Suhail Khan

Pattan, March 04 : The residents of many villages of north Kashmir’s Baramulla district on Monday expressed deep concern over an acute shortage of domestic gas and called upon authorities concerned to redress this genuine issue at earliest.

The claims by the concerned authorities for improvement in gas supply were dashed to the ground as residents of this missing belt of northern region of Kashmir are left with an acute gas shortage amid cold weather said scores of local residents of Pattan and its adjoining villages to Kashmir Despatch.

We are facing acute shortage of gas which speaks volumes about the inefficiency of the concerned authorities of the district in providing a basic facility without any interruption and problem despite this winter a group of women flock while talking with The Kashmir Despatch. They said that, despite hue and cry, the authorities are not taking practical steps to mitigate the problems to provide relief to people of this Pattan belt.

The residents said that authorities had assured that domestic gas problem will be solved soon as a number of trucks carrying gas cylinders reached valley but on ground nothing such happened only adds to our sufferings they added.

Meanwhile the residents demanded restoration of the gas supply as early as possible and also appealed Deputy Commissioner Baramulla and Sub District Megistrate Pattan to intervene into the matter sothat they will not face more inconvinence.

Deputy Comissioner Baramulla was not available for commits despite repeated attempts.

Pertainally Kashmir valley had witnessed shortage of petrol last week after the closure of Jammu-Srinagar highway for six days.

SRINAGAR, MARCH 04 : A high-level delegation of the Election Commission of India (ECI) led by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC), Sunil Arora arrived here today on a 2-day visit to J&K for consultations with various political parties, state administration and other stakeholders ahead of upcoming Election-2019.
The ECI team began its visit by meeting the representatives of various political parties in Kashmir Valley to seek their opinion regarding the Elections.

Election Commissioners, Sushil Chandra and Ashok Lavasa, Deputy Election Commissioner, Sandeep Saxena, Director General ECI, Dilip Kumar, ADG Sheyphali Sharan, Director Nikhil Kumar, Chief Electoral Officer J&K, Shailendra Kumar were present during the meeting.

National Conference (NC) delegation was led by party General Secretary Ali Mohammad Sagar. Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) delegation was led by party Vice-President Abdul Rehman Veeri, Indian National Congress (INC) delegation was led by senior party leader Taj Mohi-ul-Din, BharatiyaJanta Party (BJP) delegation was led by its State Vice-President, Dr Ali Mohammad Mir, Communist Party of India CPI (M) delegation was led by M Y Tarigami, People Democratic Front (PDF) delegation was led by Hakeem Mohammad Yaseen, Democratic Party Nationalist (DPN) delegation was led by Ghulam Hassan Mir, National Panthers Party (NPP) delegation was led by state General Secretary, Manzoor Ahmad Naik, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) delegation was led by State General Secretary, Mushtaq Ahmad, CPI delegation was led by state Secretary, Ghulam Mohammad Sheikh, Nationalist Congress party (NCP) delegation was led by state vice president Saif-ud-Din Khan and AwamiItihad Party (AIP) delegation was led by the party president Er Abdul Rashid during the consultations with ECI team.

The CEC gave a patient hearing to their concerns and assured that they will be taken care of in due process of time.
The ECI team also held a marathon meeting with the civil and police including Divisional Commissioner Kashmir, Baseer Ahmad Khan, ADGP, Law & Order, Muneer Ahmad Khan, IGP Kashmir, S P Pani, Deputy Commissioners and District Police Chiefs of Kashmir and Ladakh divisions.

“Elections are soon going to be held to uphold the principles of democracy. The commission desires that these elections should be the most inclusive with absolute neutrality by people involved in organising them. Holding election in any part of India is a challenge because of various factors such as topography, population density, holidays, etc,” Arora said in his opening remarks.

The ECI team reviewed the state of preparedness of various departments of civil and police administration for ensuring free and fair elections. The Commission asked the state authorities to provide minimum assured facilities at polling stations and ensure that voters are able to reach the stations without any fear or hinderance.
The CEC also reviewed the preparedness in terms of transportation of EVMs and polling material to the booths and deployment of staff on the day of the election. The Commission asked the state authorities to mobilise people and create inducement-free and intimidation-free atmosphere by ensuring sufficient number of security persons on ground.
The Commission stressed the state authorities to ensure that the expenditure by candidates during the election process is monitored to prevent any illegality. “The limit of expenditure is Rs 70 lakh for Lok Sabha election and Rs 28 lakh for state assembly election,” Deputy Election Commissioner, Sandeep Saxena said, adding that action should be taken against those indulging in inducement and illegal gratification to voters.

The Commission asked the state administration to conduct operations on EVMs and VVPATs in presence of stakeholders such as political parties and candidates to ensure transparency. “You should share location of strong-rooms with stakeholders/parties/candidates to prevent any suspicion.” Saxena said.

The ECI team left for Jammu this evening where they will be conducting similar exercise tomorrow. In addition, the ECI team will be also meeting the Chief Secretary BVR Subrahmanyam and DGP Dilbag Singh separately in the winter capital. Before winding up their visit the ECI team is scheduled to address a press conference at Jammu tomorrow evening.

Kashmir Despatch News

Pattan, March 04 : The residents of many villages of north Kashmir’s Baramulla district on Monday expressed deep concern over an acute shortage of domestic gas and called upon authorities concerned to redress this genuine issue at earliest.

The claims by the concerned authorities for improvement in gas supply were dashed to the ground as residents of this missing belt of northern region of Kashmir are left with an acute gas shortage amid cold weather said scores of local residents of Pattan and its adjoining villages to Kashmir Despatch.

We are facing acute shortage of gas which speaks volumes about the inefficiency of the concerned authorities of the district in providing a basic facility without any interruption and problem despite this winter a group of women flock while talking with The Kashmir Despatch.

They said that, despite hue and cry, the authorities are not taking practical steps to mitigate the problems to provide relief to people of this Pattan belt.

The residents said that authorities had assured that domestic gas problem will be solved soon as a number of trucks carrying gas cylinders reached valley but on ground nothing such happened only adds to our sufferings they added.

Meanwhile the residents demanded restoration of the gas supply as early as possible and also appealed Deputy Commissioner Baramulla and Sub District Megistrate Pattan to intervene into the matter sothat they will not face more inconvinence.

Deputy Comissioner Baramulla was not available for commits despite repeated attempts.

Pertainally Kashmir valley had witnessed shortage of petrol last week after the closure of Jammu-Srinagar highway for six days.

Srinagar, March 4 : The Kashmir University’s controller examination on Monday said that “everything will be alright” in Kashmir Valley tomorrow and as such examination will be held as per schedule.

When contacted by news agency about comments on students demand for postponement of examinations scheduled tomorrow in wake of the strike by transporters among others, Prof Farooq Ahmad Mir, Controller Examination, said “everything will be alright. In the recent past also, there were such ‘excuses’ but examinations were conducted smoothly.”
Asked that tomorrow’s strike has been called by transporters and there being possibility of students facing trouble in reaching the examination venues, he said, “Everything will be alright.”

The students had urged authorities to postpone exams scheduled in wake of the call issued by traders and transporters in Kashmir Valley against ban on Jama’at Islami and attempts to “assault” Article 35A. The strike has been supported by JRL comprising Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and JKLF.

“The strike has been called by traders and transports meaning thereby no transport will be available which is bound to put students to lot of sufferings,” students who are appearing in exams on Tuesday told news agency.

A group of student of law department had urged authorities to postpone the examinations and make announcement beforehand to avoid unnecessary troubles.

“There is possibility of law and order situation. Besides not all the students have transport facilities and there are poor students like us who have no means of transport,” the students said and urged the varsity authorities to postpone the examinations scheduled tomorrow.

They said that if anything untoward happen to any student, shall the Kashmir University take responsibility. “It’s not a normal strike. It is about the issue which affects everyone single Kashmiri. The authorities must take into consideration the sensitivities involved and postpone examinations tomorrow,” they said, adding, “we are not seeking postponement of examination out of fun. Our demand is in wake of the strike called by traders and transporters. Who will be responsible if anything untoward happens to any students?” (GNS)

Srinagar, March 4 : Students of Kashmir University on Monday urged authorities to postpone exams scheduled or tomorrow in wake of the joint strike called by traders and transporters in Kashmir Valley against ban on Jama’at Islami and attempts “assault” on Article 35A.

“The strike has been called by traders and transports meaning thereby no transport will be available which is bound to put students to lot of sufferings,” students who are appearing in exams on Tuesday told GNS.

A group of student law department, scheduled to appear in examination at varsity campus, urged authorities to postpone the examinations and make announcement beforehand to avoid unnecessary troubles.

“There is possibility of law and order situation. Besides not all the students have transport facilities and there are poor students like us who have no means of transport,” the students said and urged the varsity authorities to postpone the examinations scheduled tomorrow. (GNS)