The Election Commission of India has issued the notification for Bye-election to Srinagar Parliamentary Constituency.
As per the notification, last date of filing nominations has been fixed on March 21, while as scrutiny of papers will be held on March 22 and the last date of withdrawal of candidature is March 24.
Similarly, as per the notification elections will be held on April 9, 2017. The voting hours has been fixed from 7:00AM to 5:00PM.
Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Jammu and Kashmir, Shantmanu today said that all arrangements have been put in place to conduct forthcoming Parliamentary bye-polls in Srinagar Parliamentary Constituency in a free and fair atmosphere.
The CEO was speaking at a meeting held to review the poll arrangements which was attended by Deputy Commissioner Srinagar, Deputy Commissioner Budgam, Deputy Commissioner Ganderbal, Assistant Returning Officers, Joint Director Information, Deputy Director Information, DIG Srinagar, concerned SSPs and other officials.
The CEO directed the officials to strictly follow the rules and guidelines laid down by the Election Commission of India to ensure transparency in every aspect of election process.
The meeting was informed that there are 1559 polling booths in the Srinagar parliamentary constituency which have been categorized as sensitive and hypersensitive.
The CEO directed the officials to furnish the final list of all polling booths after scrutinizing the same, within two days. He directed the officials to start awareness programmes in various educational institutes in all the concerned districts, to maximize poll participation.
The CEO also directed the concerned to setup a toll free number so that election related complaints are registered. He also reviewed the arrangements put in place for appointment of micro-observers and Videography and Webcasting facilities.
Over a half dozen activities under the state’s largest sports carnival for rural areas are being held in different blocks of various districts in Kashmir division.
In a statement issued today, JK State Sports Council stated that more than 3000 players from various districts of the valley are participating in various sports activities.
Giving details, SSC officials said 700 players participated in competitions held in various blocks of South Kashmir’s Anantnag and Pulwama districts including Bijbehara and evinced massive response of players participating in various sports disciplines.
They said 2300 players participated in various sports activities in various blocks including Narbal block of district Budgam, Safapora block of Ganderbal, Shalimar of Srinagar and in various blocks of district Kupwara. The sports disciplines in which competitions are going on include athletics, Kho-Kho, Kabbadi, Volleyball, Wushu, athletics and others.
SSC officials said the activities began at block level under Rural Sports Competition in every block of both the divisions of the state. They said the talent identification is being done in the process for grooming budding sportspersons to achieve excellence at national and international levels.
Aarif Veeray, class 9th student, an aspiring sportsperson, who hails from block Bijbehara of Anantnag said, “It will provide a platform to the budding sports talent to compete at the state level.” He thanked the Sports Council for providing budding sportspersons like him, a chance to compete and participate in the games at block level.
On the occasion Secretary Sports Council Waheed-ur-Rehman Parra said aim of the competition is to improve the pool of sportspersons at the grassroots level. “To identify and hone talent in rural Jammu and Kashmir, various competitions are going on at block level,” informed Secretary Sports Council, adding that the Government is committed to promote sports activities and develop sports infrastructure in every nook and corner of the State.
Divisional Sports Officer, Nuzhat Ara said, “Khelo India competitions are being conducted not only to promote sports at grassroots level but also to help revive the sports culture in the state.”
She also maintained close coordination with the entire concerned district heads for successful ‘Khelo India’ competitions that are being conducted not only to promote sports at grassroots level but also to help revive the sports culture in the state.
In order to carry out various development works by M/S IRCON International Ltd under R-APDRP scheme, the power supply to Raja Bazar, Maa Kali Mandir, Jiya Pota, Akhnoor town and its adjoining areas shall remain affected on March 15, 17 and 19 from 9.30 am to 3.30 pm.
Meanwhile, to carry out stringing of conductor of 132 KV S/C Transmission line of D/C Towers from Grid Station Samba to RTSS Samba, the power supply to Samba town, Army, Banglard, Rajpura and some industry area under Phase-IInd shall remain affected on March 15, 16 and 17 from 09 am to 05 pm.
Similarly, the power supply to some industry area under phase-IInd PHE shall remain affected on March 18 from 09 am to 05 pm.
Meanwhile, the shutdown of 3 Phase LT Loc. 0-1 is allowed on March 19 from 09 am to 05 pm and single phase LT line Loc 20-21 is allowed on March 20 from 09 am to 05 pm.
Chief Minister, Mehbooba Mufti has said the twin districts of Rajouri and Poonch are in the developmental focus of the present Government as the aim is to take developmental benefits to the last person among the underdeveloped, underprivileged sections and areas of the State.
Addressing a largely attended public meeting here today after laying the foundation stone of Kotranka-Khwas road here today, the Chief Minister said Rajouri being the Central point of this region, many big developmental achievements were registered in the district earlier and many more path breaking initiatives are slated for future.
Mehbooba Mufti said the upcoming tunnel on Mughal road, once completed, would not only give the region improved access to rest of the State, it would also give a big boost to the tourism in the area as well. She said tourism holds a good promise for the entire region and once the connectivity is improved, it would give the region’s economy a turnaround besides tiding over the problem of unemployment in the region.
Responding to the local demands, the Chief Minister announced the upgradation of local Community Health Centre to a Maternity and Childcare Centre. She said already Rs. Two crore have been released for the upgradation of the Centre. She said once the Government decides on opening of new colleges, the demand and desirability of the local area would be given priority. She also directed pacing up of work on Degree College Budhal. She directed raising of wayside facilities on the Kotranka-Khwas road for the convenience of visitors. Besides, she said the upgradation of Budhal-Shopian road would also be looked into.
A long pending demand of the area, the 30 Kilometre long Kotranka-Khwas road would be built at a cost of Rs. 76 crore, benefitting some 50, 000 souls and it would be completed within three years.
Deputy Chief Minister in his address said the present Government represents the aspirations of poor and underprivileged sections in the far flung areas of the State. He said there is sufficient availability of funds from the Centre and the Government in the coming years would change the developmental profile of the State. He appealed people to participate in the coming Panchayat elections to empower themselves and their areas.
Ministers, Choudhary Zulfkar, Abdul Gani Kohli and Naeem Akhtar also addressed the public meeting.
Minister for Education, Syed Altaf Bukhari; Minister for Health & Medical Education, Bali Bhagat; Minister of State for Hajj & Auqaf, Syed Farooq Indrabi; legislators, Choudhary Qamar Hussain, Yaspaul Sharma, former Minister, Thakur Puran Singh; Divisional Commissioner, Jammu, Dr. Pawan Kotwal, officers of district administration were present on the occasion.
Chief Minister, Mehbooba Mufti today directed the Divisional Commissioner, Jammu and IGP, Traffic to look into the issues of frequent traffic jamming in the city and submit their report within a week.
The Chief Minister gave these directions while chairing the meeting of Jammu District Development Board here today.
Mehbooba Mufti asked the Traffic Department to put in more manpower to clear traffic at the city’s critical points particularly during peak hours of morning and evening. She also directed clearing of pavements to ensure pedestrian movement which would subsequently reduce the pressure on the roads.
Deputy Chief Minister, Dr. Nirmal Singh and several other Minister and legislators besides Chief Secretary, B. R. Sharma; Financial Commissioner, Planning & Development and Principal Secretary to Chief Minister, B. B. Vyas and other senior officers were present in the meeting.
Chief Minister, Mehbooba Mufti has stressed on the need to give focussed attention to the development of capital cities of Jammu and Srinagar.
Chairing the District Development Board meeting of Jammu district here today, the Chief Minister said with this objective in mind she has decided to delink the development process in these major cities from the district administrations by formulating a Capital City Plan for both the cities. This, she said, would ensure that the developmental framework in these two cities does not remain static and the progress of works gets a renewed push.
Mehbooba Mufti said that Jammu and Srinagar, besides being the capital cities, have to bear the load of a considerable floating population in addition to the ever increasing demands of civic amenities and these components have to be factored in the planning process.
Asking the executing agencies to strictly follow the project completion deadlines, Mehbooba Mufti hoped that projects under execution would be completed within the scheduled deadline time frame to let the benefits percolate down to people at the earliest.
The Chief Minister directed creation of a buffer of water pumps and lift motors in view of the coming summers and irrigation season in the district. She advised the legislators to encourage local youth in forming Self Help Groups which can join the project executions of the Government. This, she said, would not only involve the local community in the developmental process but also provide means of livelihood to many of unemployed youth.
The Chief Minister asked the Chief Secretary to take up with NHAI the issues of providing more road furniture and emergency response equipment like ambulances on the newly constructed Jammu-Udhampur National highway patch and rehabilitation of vendors of Nandni who were dislocated due to road widening. She also directed ensuring availability of Urdu knowing teachers in the schools where ever needed besides undertaking a safety audit of all the school buildings.
Mehbooba Mufti directed pacing up of work on the Mubarak Mandi heritage project terming as an important tourist and cultural asset of the State. She expressed concern over the slow pace of work on the project and directed start of landscaping at the project site immediately. She directed operationalization of the nearby parking slot so that vehicles don’t come inside the heritage complex. She also directed conservation and face lifting of Raghunath Mandir and adjoining areas which forms a major attraction for tourists.
The Chief Minister, who also holds the charge of Planning & Development Department, announced release of Rs. 22 crore as additionality for meeting the liabilities of the current fiscal in the district. She also announced release of Rs. One crore for pacing up work on the Tawi beautification project and Rs. One crore for various developmental works in R. S. Pura area. She also released Rs. 50 lakh to each of the constituency in the district for undertaking civic works immediately.
Addressing the meeting, the Deputy Chief Minister, Dr. Nirmal Singh said the present Government has made it compulsory for the executing agencies to stick to the project completion deadlines and as a result many of the long pending projects have been put on track.
The Deputy Chief Minister described Mubarak Mandi heritage project as an important milestone in preserving the tradition and culture of the Jammu city.
In his address, Minister for Finance, Dr. Haseeb A. Drabu described the adoption of Capital City Plan for Jammu and Srinagar cities as a systemic change in planning rather than the incremental one. He said with this the developmental process of these cities would get a renewed push. He added that as a next step the allocations for rest of the districts would be done by an experts group based on area specific requirements and needs.
Later, the board approved an outlay of Rs. 690 crore for Jammu under Capital City Plan and Rs. 212 cr under District sector Plan.
Minister for Health & Medical Education, Bali Baghat; Minister for PHE, Irrigation & Flood Control, Shyam Choudhary; Minister of State for Tourism& Culture, Priya Sethi; vice chairmen of various boards besides legislators Sat Sharma, Choudhary Sukhnandan, Devinder Singh Rana, Rajesh Gupta, Dr. Gagan Bhagat, Kamal Arora, Rajeev Sharma, Devinder Manyal, Dr. Krishan Lal, Ashok Khajuria, Ramesh Arora, Charanjeet Singh Khalsa and Master Noor Hussain were present in the meeting.
Also present in the meeting were Chief Secretary, B. R. Sharma; Financial Commissioner, Planning & Development and Principal Secretary to Chief Minister, B. B. Vyas, Administrative Secretaries of several Departments, Divisional Commissioner, Jammu, Pawan Kotwal, heads of various Departments and officers of Jammu district administration.
In order to carry out stringing work of 400 KV D/C Samba-Amargarh Transmission line, the power supply to whole Poonch District, Poonch town, Mandi, Haveli, Surankote, Draba etc fed from 132 KV D/C Rajouri-Draba Transmission line Ckt-1 and 2 shall remain affected on March 11 from 09 am to 03 pm.
Jammu and Kashmir government plans to replicate some of the successful models of solid, liquid waste management of Tamil Nadu to tackle the sanitation issues in the state’s rural areas.
In this connection Minister for Rural Development, Panchayati Raj, Law and Justice Abdul Haq along with a team of officers today visited some solid-liquid waste management projects in Tamil Nadu funded under MGNREGA to take first hand appraisal of the initiative which is highly cost effective.
The Minister also met his counterpart from Tamil Nadu, SP Velumani and discussed in detail about the successful implementation of various projects under Rural Development sector in the state.
The meeting was attended by Secretary to Rural Development Tamil Nadu, Hans Raj Verma, Additional Secretary Suganthi, Director RDD Tamil Nadu, K Baskaran, Director Rural Sanitation Kashmir, Abdul Rehman Gasi, Additional Director RDD Tamil Nadu G Lakshmipathi, Executive Engineer RDD JK, Parvaiz Ahmad Malik, Project Manager IWMP Deepak Dubay besides other senior officers of both the states.
SP Velumani informed the J&K RDD Minister about different schemes being implemented in Tamil Nadu. Minister was informed that the Department has managed to implement several projects of Solid Liquid waste management through MGNREGA which are conventional way of disposing garbage and very economical, effective and eco-friendly.
They informed the Minister that workers under MGNREGA are deputed in a Panchayat to collect garbage which is then sorted into bio-degradable and non-bio-degradable for further processing.
Minister said the sanitation, cleanliness and waste disposal and management is a major challenge before the Rural Development Department. He said in the absence of a proper waste management plan in rural areas, we are polluting the environment and many of the water bodies especially springs have got either polluted or wiped out. He said earlier less attention was paid to the waste management in rural areas but the 2014 floods taught us that focus needs to be given in rural areas as majority of the population lives there. He said majority of the streams and Nallahs have been converted into small drains due to reckless garbage dumping and the choking of these streams lead to devastation in 2014.
He said J&K government has already set up two pilot projects on the pattern of Tamil Nadu for Solid Liquid Resource Management (SLRM) in Bishnah and Akhnoor successfully, and these can be replicated in other villages at Panchayat level as well. He said the Bishnah SLRM seems to be a grand success as it manages to dispose waste of about 300 households using conventional and organic methods and even revenue is being generated from the project. He said soon every Panchayat will have its own waste management system and it will used to generate income.
Regarding SRLM, Abdul Haq said J&K government will soon enter into an agreement with the Tamil Nadu government as it has agreed to train and assist Self Help Groups (SHG) of J&K to improve our SHGs besides helping in capacity building.
Abdul Haq was informed that the Tamil Nadu state has one crore Self Help Groups (SHGs) which are functioning successfully from past many years. Abdul Haq said the Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti is keen to improve the socio-economic condition of women in J&K and SRLM is a strong tool through which the mission can be achieved.
The Minister later visited Anjur Panchayat in the outskirts of Chennai city wherein a nursery of 18 fruit and fodder trees have been raised by SHGs under MGNREGA. The job card holders mostly women in this nursery raise the nursery while seeds are provided under material component. The plants are then sold in market to generate income for the SHGs.
The Minister also visited Kacheepuram district to inspect working of Solid Waste Management System in the area. The Minister along with the officials were given a brief presentation by the host officials about the functioning of the project regarding mapping of habitations and segregation and dumping of waste through conventional means with the support of MGNREGA.
At Silavattam village of the Kancheepuram district, the Minister interacted with members of SHGs who are running village Panchayat Service Centre wherein they give services of internet to the people.
At Vellaputhur in Acharapakkam block where the SHGs run a waste management plant and have also established a nursery of fruit and fodder plants wherein about one lakh plant sapling are grown. The project is also funded under MGNREGA.
Sh. Khurshid A. Ganai, State Chief Information Commissioner (CIC), called on Governor N.N. Vohra at the Raj Bhavan in Jammu today.
Sh. Ganai apprised the Governor about the status of functioning of the State Information Commission after the former CIC stepped down on the completion of his tenure, followed by the retirement of the two Information Commissioners, which had made this body defunct. Sh. Ganai also informed the number of appellate cases which have been pending disposal and the provisions of the law regarding the time with in which every appeal must be decided.
Governor advised CIC to address the State Government regarding the two Commissioners being appointed without any delay and he would also discuss this matter with the Chief Minister.
The Governor discussed with Sh. Ganai the measures which could be taken to speed up the process of transparency in the governance system in the State.
