Tragic road accident near Digdol on Ramban-Srinagar road that took the toll of 13 precious lives including six children is yet another black point in the performance of road traffic police. Why do the traffic police allow night travel for passenger vehicles knowing that smallest mistake of the driver driving in the darkness of the night can cause greatest tragedy? Secondly why was the ill-fated Sumo allowed to be overloaded? Traffic authorities will have to provide an answer. Rot has overtaken State Traffic Department. It is a stinking cesspool of corruption, inefficiency and delinquency. Its overhauling is of utmost urgency. Not suspension but far severer punishment including dismissal from service is the remedy. They are playing with precious lives whose tragic death means destruction of so many families. They have absolutely no right to wear the uniform as they are unfit for it. Ultimately if the Government shields such criminals, which it has been doing so far, the people will not and then don’t complain of disturbances and turmoil on large scale arresting the progress and development of the State.

Mailbag

Unfortunate incident

Sir,
An emergence of extra ordinary social set-up can only defeat the caste vote bank agenda of politicians. Countrymen must be conscious enough and work for peaceful survival of coming generations. In context of recent shameful happening of caste based clashes for merely drinking water at Hatli village of Kathua, casing physical and mental torture of SC people, the incident may be termed as shameful and unfortunate. The episode as a blot on the faces of selfish and short cited political leadership of the area and the state coalition government as well. such discriminatory violence should be seen as a major failure of our social, political and administrative system.
It is appealed to the Chief Minister for providing all sort of protection to the innocent sufferers including the adequate health facilities to the injured.
Yours etc…
Pankaj Sangral
Kathua

Reality shows

Sir,
There is no denying the stark reality that the present young generation especially the teen agers and even below that, in the age group of 5-14, are extraordinary intelligent. This is simply because these age groups are born in the most scientific advanced stage or in computer age where instead of sterotyped system of “Takhti” they learn from computers and laptops etc. These scientific devices add to their day to day knowledge. These children are intelligent beyond expectations where not only scientific advancement but the active cooperation of parents also help them in achieving the objectives.
In order to encourage such intelligent children, some sponsors for their own monetary benefits arrange reality shows which are arranged in different stages. Firstly on local level, then on national level. These reality shows include songs and dances etc. The idea is to search out the would be best singers, dancers and other talented persons. The parents of these participating children try their nerve best to make them the best by engaging tutors or masters for this , so that their wards occupy the winning seats. But sometimes such competitions prove counterproductive because the children in the tender age get morally discouraged and disheartened when they are declared as lagging behind. The way these small kids react at that stage when they are declared unsuccessful is worth taking note of. This situation can sometimes assume dangerous dimensions and may lead children to lose mental balance and sometimes to take an extreme step. So the organizers of such reality shows should devise some precautionary measures at the time of declaring results, especially before a big gathering and more so, before the parents so that no harm is done to the tender hearted children.
Yours etc….
Dwarika Nath Raina
H N. 131 Upper Muthi
Jammu

Councils
Sir,
The Government appointed interlocutors on Kashmir recently submitted their report titled ‘New compact with the people of Jammu and Kashmir’. Among other subjects it has touched the issue of Regional Councils for effective governance of the State.
The idea Regional Councils as has been advocated by the interlocutors was initially mooted by Balraj Puri. He had lucidly explained how Regional Councils can play an important role in overcoming regional discrimination among the provinces, and contribute to equal development of all the regions of the State. The idea though discussed earlier also did not find many takers for reasons best known to them. The role of Regional Councils have again come into focus with the submission of interlocutors report.
The prescription of Regional Council for overcoming the ills of the State is an excellent idea and needs to be considered by the all stake-holders for the welfare of the State. Though there may be addition or deletion in its provisions, it should not be rejected summarily.
Yours etc….
Ramesh Chander
Nagrota

Chief Minister took the initiative of holding a cabinet meeting at the border village of Tangdhar in North Kashmir, far away from the corridors of power in the Secretariat at Srinagar. He has not only revived but improved on his grandfather’s tradition of holding cabinet and district level meetings at district headquarters. Teethwal-Karnah is strategically very crucial area and its routes have been used by most of the militants who sneaked into this side of the cease-fire line. Its thick forests and deep declensions offer safe havens to infiltrators. It is through these jungle routes that hundreds of Kashmiri youth were lured to cross over to Kishen Ganga valley and then move towards Muzaffarabad and other terrorist training camps established by the ISI.
Apart from this, this entire area suffered badly as a result of sever earthquake a couple of years ago which devastated habitats and rendered many people homeless. The Government had swung into action and many steps were taken to come to the rescue of the affected people. However the effects of a big tragedy of that sort cannot be overcome in a short time. This is one of the reasons why the Government wanted to take stock of things on ground and do something more to mitigate the suffering of the people.
Holding a cabinet meeting at the farthest village on the LoC conveys more than what meets the eye. First and foremost message is that the civilian administration is very effective and functional even at the remotest places on the border. This speaks of the confidence of the Government to run its writ effectively all over the State. Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, the economic situation of the region and the problems of the people living in border areas could not be better voiced and understood than by various groups of people drawn from different strata of society meeting the CM in person and conveying their problems to him. The CM drove the 180 miles to reach Tangdar with the main purpose of conducting on spot survey of developmental work and the functioning of the Government. It meant that entire Government machinery in the district of Kupwara had to gear up to the visit of the Chief Minister and the entire Government machinery.
The hard fact is that our border areas are still backward in many respects particularly education, healthcare, sanitation, roads and power supply. Their development is government’s first concern. That is the point in Chief Minister holding regular meetings of District Development Boards. The holding of cabinet meeting at Tangdar is part of that exercise in which the Government and authority want to come too close to the people. It has to be remembered that the border areas in the State are more significant in present circumstances than what they ordinarily would be. The first and foremost importance of our border areas touching with PoK is their strategic location. And our Army and other paramilitary forces like BSF are taking care of that aspect. But besides that it is very important that development of the area keeps step with the level of security because the two go together hand in hand in a situation where the enemy is keen to exploit any opportunity it can get hold of. People on the border cannot be left illiterate and uneducated. They have to be educated not only in the sense of 3Rs but their political and social education and awareness need to be streamlined. They need to be told about the benefits of democracy, pluralism and secularism which are the fundamental pillars of our political dispensation. They need to be educated on their civil and political rights. They need to be told that the army that guards the border and protects them is their own army and they are part of it. They need to be told that the Army and security forces are ready to help them in living a peaceful and productive life and various programmes undertaken by the Army like organizing health camps at remote border villages or helping organize cultural events and sports meets and sending young boys on Bharat Darshan visits to know other parts of the country etc. are all ample evidence that the Army is part of larger civil society of the country. It is exclusively the responsibility of political leadership of the State to educate the people and help them develop understanding with the security forces. Our understanding is that organizing cabinet or sub-cabinet meetings in border villages in different districts of the valley will naturally bring in the contribution of the Army and security forces in alleviating the grievances of the people or in providing them more facilities of a happy life. Why should not our elected representatives in the assembly and especially those coming from border areas like Teetwal, Uri, Gurez etc. establish rapport with the Army and jointly focus on disseminating social education and awareness among the masses of people. In this connection let us recall the historical role played by eminent public leaders like late Maulana Masudi in Teetwal and late Jail Baba in Bandipore during the early days of popular Government. The Chief Minister has promised to look into their grievances and in particular has laid emphasis on spreading network of roads that would connect major towns and localities and thus facilitate movement of men and material in border areas of the state. This is a right step in right direction.