Non-availability of reference books

Sir,

Reference books relating to State Govt. rules and regulation concerning service conditions of Government servants is of prime importance for appearing and processing the cases in various departments of the Government. Hence, their ready availability in the Govt press library is of utmost significance. However, many reference books viz CSR Vol-I, Financial Code and some old SRO's and compendiums containing Government rules and regulation are learnt to have gone out of stock. Besides there is also a need for printing revised updated editions as most of the editions available in the library are older ones. Various Government rulings issued from time to time in the form of SRO's as well as Finance Department Office memorandum and notifications contained in the compendiums are also required to be incorporated in the references books as to bring them upto date and latest. This would facilitate having all the vital information relating to various rules governing service conditions of Govt. employees etc at one place in compact form and could be used by the users with ease as and when required.

In view of this I would like to request the General Manager, Ranbir Govt. Press Jammu to kindly look into the matter and have all the reference books currently in short supply made readily available in the library for sale to the people visiting the press for the purpose. This apart from facilitating the Government servants in need of these reference books to get their knowledge updated would also go a long way in providing much needed revenue to the Government.

Yours etc...
Ravi Sharma
Jammu

Public transport

Sir,

Jammu city is one the cheapest cities in the country when it comes to Public Transportation. Forget all the bad things about the transportation especially about private matador service it still is cheapest as well as effective service. Spend some couple of bucks and you travel safely from one corner of the city to the other. But despite that there is an urgency to link newer areas with public transport. Peripheral areas like Amb Gharota, Kot Balwal, Greater Kailash, Sunjwan, Bhatindi etc. need to be linked to the city centre with public transport like new sleek mini buses.

Nowadays there are new buses available which are sleck and modern. They consume less petrol or diesel and are comfortable. If the city administration thinks on the lines of placing an alternate public transport system on the roads it will provide better and competitive connectivity to the different areas. Any Jammuite can say very candidly that the roads of the city are now choked with private cars. Everyday their number is increasing. The best traffic managers and planners have always stressed the need to ply public transport on the roads. A good and comfortable minibus can take atleast five to seven cars off the road. It can help to decongest the roads and thus create more roads space for the speedy transit. It is hightime that the Government gives a deep thought to the development of alternate public transport system which will act in tandem with the private transport system in the city.

Yours etc...
Roshan Lal Gupta
Link Road
Jammu

Curb smoking

Sir,

Smoking is as bad as if it were a curse. People who smoke, smoke their lives literally. Thousands of research papers all over the world point to the same fact that smoking is one of the greatest threats to human life. Smoking not only destroys health it destroys the quality of life.

Cigarette and tabacco has been with human beings for the last thousands of years.

In ancient times too when in our country Ayurveda was written smoking was not accorded any rightful place in human health. Ayurveda is quite candid about the bad effects of smoking and admonishes people in general to abstain from the bad habit of smoking. In these times when people are smoking more it has arrested the attention of doctors, researchers, social scientists and even politicians. In this regard the zest to stop smoking an unprecedented lead has been taken by Dr. Ambumani Ramdoss. Leaving aside his rather personal 'war' against AIIMS Director Dr. Venugopal, his tirade against smoking has caused many wings to ruffle.

Whenever any good cause is taken up it gets citicised but people who have gone through the diseases caused due to smoking know well that the anti smoking drive launched by the Health Minister is laudable. Here, in our State the antismoking drive has to be launched so that people desist from smoking atleast in the first instance in public. The State Government should ban employees from smoking in the offices. People should be imposed heavy fines if they smoke in public. We have to take some harsh steps if we are to make our society a health one. And to stop smoking will be one crucial step towards that goal.

Yours etc...
G L Mehra
Trikuta Nagar
Jammu