Director Health Kashmir Dr Saleem-ur-Rehman attached

Ahmed Ali Fayyaz

SRINAGAR, May 19: In a dramatic development, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed’s government has attached Director Health Services Kashmir Dr Saleem-ur-Rehman within days of Chief Minister’s visit to District Hospital of Baramulla.

Official sources revealed to State Times that the Cabinet meeting presided over by Chief Minister on Monday discussed briefly and accorded sanction to the proposal of Dr Saleem-ur-Rehman's removal and attachment. However, the administrative order was issued late around midnight when Commissioner-Secretary Health & Medical Education Shantmanu was on an official visit in Leh.

Shantmanu himself was replaced by Mandeep Bhandari. Cabinet did not decide about his new place of posting.

Minister for Health & Medical Education Lal Singh confirmed Dr Saleem-ur-Rehman's attachment to State Times but didn't specify reason of the director's removal. "Nothing special", Lal Singh said when asked what made the government attach a major Head of Department. Source's said that Commissioner-Secretary Health and Medical Education would hold the charge till the appointment of the new Director.

Even as the bureaucracy remained tightlipped, some of the well placed sources insisted that Dr Saleem-ur-Rehman's removal had been decided a few days back when Chief Minister was on a tour in Baramulla. According to these sources, CM as well Lok Sabha member ftom North Kashmir Muzaffar Hussain Baig were not satisfied with Dr Saleem-ur-Rehman's leadership. He was sidelined and CM alongwith Mr Baig interacted only with Chief Medical Officer Dr Bashir Ahmad Chalkoo.

Yet another official source added that Dr Saleem-ur-Rehman was known for his proxity to Congress leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad, Taj Mohiuddin and Sham Lal who had played key role in his elevation from Assistant Director to incharge Deputy Director and incharge Director, all within a couple of years. Former Health Minister had provided extraordinary support to Dr Saleem-ur-Rehman when a nurse posted in Anantnag district levelled allegations of sexual harassment against the Director in 2013.

While as the accused was given a clean chit, first by Minister and later by former Health Commissioner Gazanffar Hussain, Police too dismissed the nurse's allegations as unsubstantiated and vlosed the matter as "not admitted". Thereupon, the complaints nurse also approached a court of law.

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Gazanffar shifted to GAD, Samoon appointed Kashmir Div Com
 
38 IAS, KAS, other officers shifted in Mufti Government’s 2^nd administrative reshuffle
 
Ahmed Ali Fayyaz
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SRINAGAR, May 18: Over three dozen senior IAS, KAS and other officers were transferred to new places in the second major administrative reshuffle in bureaucracy and civil administration by Mufti Mohammad Sayeed’s PDP-BJP government in Jammu and Kashmir in just two months. Those shifted on Monday in a Cabinet meeting include quite a number of the officers and bureaucrats who had been transferred either by Mufti’s government on March 15 or by Governor Narendra Nath Vohra on January 27 this year.

Gazanffar Hussain, who had been appointed as Divisional Commissioner of Kashmir and replaced by Shant Manu as Commissioner-Secretary Health & Medical Education on March 15, has been removed and appointed as Commissioner-Secretary General Administration Department. Even Shantmanu, and another IAS officer Ashok Parmar, who had been given new places of posting recently, have been kept waiting for another posting.
 
Knowledgeable sources told State Times that initially there was the proposal of appointing Baseer Khan, currently Secretary Transport, as the new Divisional Commissioner of Kashmir. However, his involvement in allotment of State land under Roshni scam and strictures by High Court compelled the Cabinet to make a replacement. Consequently, the best-connected bureaucrat and Commissioner-Secretary Agriculture Production Dr Asgar Hassan Samoon, who in the past has served as DC of Srinagar and Anantnag, was picked up as the new Divisional Commissioner for Kashmir.
 
Raj Kumar Goyal, under orders of repatriation from the Government of India, has been posted as Principal Secretary to the Government, Home Department, relieving Mr. B.R. Sharma, of the additional charge of the post. Navin Kumar Choudhary, another IAS officer got repatriated from the Central deputation within a year, has been posted as Commissioner-Secretary to the Government, Finance Department, relieving Mr. B.B. Vyas of the additional charge. Choudhary was currently Joint Secretary in union Ministry of Defence. Both have served as Principal Secretary to Governor.
 
Third IAS officer got repatriated from the Central deputation, Dheeraj Gupta, has been posted as Commissioner-Secretary to the Government, Relief and Rehabilitation Department. He shall also be the Chief Executive Officer, Project Monitoring Unit of the World Bank Project.
 
In a significant development, Deputy Commissioner of Poonch Mohammad Hussain Malik has been transferred and posted as Secretary to Chief Minister. Young IAS officer Mohammad Aijaz, Sub-Divisional Magistrate Khansahib, has been transferred and posted as Deputy Secretary in the Chief Minister’s Secretariat.
 
While as Transport Commissioner Dilshad Khan has been removed to the insignificant posting of Commissioner Enquiry in the wake of massive allegations of corruption in her office and offices of all RTOs and ARTOs in J&K, Director-General of Fire & Emergency Services Dr. G.A. Bhat has been transferred and posted as Secretary (Technical) in the Home Department, vice R.S. Sodhi. Sodhi will be the new DG Fire and Emergency Services. 

Hirdesh Kumar, awaiting orders of posting, has been posted as Secretary Technical Education, Youth Services and Sports Department, vice Khurshid Ahmad Shah. He shall also be the Administrative Secretary, Information Technology Department. 

Mohammad Ashraf Bukhari, Commissioner-Secretary GAD has been transferred and posted as Commissioner-Secretary Agriculture Production vice Asgar Samoon.

Vineeta Gupta, Secretary Cooperatives has been transferred and posted as Officer on Special Duty in GAD.

Satesh Nehru, Secretary Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution Department, has been transferred and posted as Secretary Animal & Sheep Husbandry vice Ashok Kumar Parmar. Nehru shall also be Secretary, Science & Technology.

Mandeep Kumar Bhandari, Chief Executive Officer, Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board, under orders of transfer as Secretary to the Government, Relief and Rehabilitation Department, with additional charge of the post of Chief Executive Officer, Project Monitoring Unit of the World Bank Project, has been transferred and posted as Secretary Health and Medical Education vice Shantmanu.

Nirmal Sharma, Excise Commissioner, has been transferred and posted as Director, J&K Institute of Management, Public Administration and Rural Development, relieving Mohammad Ashraf Bukhari of the additional charge.

Khurshid Ahmad Shah, Secretary Technical Education, Youth Services and Sports has been transferred and posted as Secretary Rural Development and Panchayati Raj vice Mr. Shafaat Noor Barlas who is retiring on May 31.

Saurabh Bhagat, Secretary Information Technology and Science & Technology, has been transferred and posted as Secretary Consumer Affairs& Public Distribution and Tribal Affairs Department.

Hilal Ahmad Parray, Director, Urban Local Bodies, Kashmir, has been transferred and posted as Secretary Cooperative vice Vineeta Gupta.

Tsering Angchok, Director Handlooms has been transferred and posted as Excise Commissioner vice Nirmal Sharma.

Ajeet Kumar Sahu Deputy Commissioner, Jammu, has been transferred and his services have been placed at the disposal of the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board for his appointment as Chief Executive Officer, SMVDSB, vice Mandeep Kumar Bhandari.

Salma Hamid, Additional Commissioner Kashmir, has been transferred and posted as Vice-Chairperson, Srinagar Development Authority Mohammad Saleem Shishgar.

Yasha Mudgal, Deputy Commissioner, Udhampur, has been transferred and posted as Director, School Education, Jammu, vice Simrandeep Singh, who has been appointed as DC Jammu in place of AK Sahu.

Shahid Iqbal Choudhary, Deputy Commissioner, Kathua, has been transferred and posted as Deputy Commissioner, Udhampur, vice Yasha Mudgal.

Parvez Iqbal Khateeb, Director, Technical Education has been replaced by Showkat Ahmad Zargar and appointed as Transport Commissioner vice  Dilshad Khan.

Ali Raza, under orders of transfer as Project Director, DRDA, Kargil, has been transferred and posted as Secretary in the Tribal Affairs Department.

Jahangir Mir, Special Secretary Social Welfare Department, has been transferred and posted as Director General, Youth Services and Sports, vice Navin Kumar Aggarwal, who shall report to the Home department for further orders.

Mohammad Saleem Shishgar, Vice-Chairman, Srinagar Development Authority, has been transferred and posted as Special Secretary Social Welfare Department.

Ajay Singh Jamwal, Additional District Development Commissioner, Udhampur, has been transferred and posted as Deputy Commissioner, Kathua, vice Shahid Iqbal Choudhary.

Ghulam Nabi Balwan, Director, Rural Development, Jammu, has been transferred and posted as Secretary, J&K State Information Commission, vice Manohar Lal Raina.

Gazanffer Ali, Director, Social Welfare, Kashmir, has been transferred and posted as Director, Handicrafts, J&K, against an available vacancy.

Hashmat Ali Yatoo, Additional District Development Commissioner, Anantnag, has been transferred and posted as Director, Social Welfare, Kashmir, vice  Gazanffer Ali Mir.

Rajesh Sharma, Regional Director, Survey and Land Records (ex-officio Settlement Officer), Udhampur, has been transferred and posted as Director, Handlooms, J&K, vice Tsering Angchok.

Mohammad Harun Malik, Regional Director, Survey and Land Records (ex-officio Settlement Officer), Srinagar, has been transferred and posted as Director, Agriculture, Kashmir.

Nisar Ahmad Wani, Special Secretary to the Government, Public Works (R&B) Department, has been transferred and posted as Deputy Commissioner, Poonch, vice Mohammad Hussain Malik.

Manohar Lal Raina, Secretary, J&K State Information Commission, has been transferred and posted as Director, Rural Development, Jammu, vice Ghulam Nabi Balwan.

END

Mufti makes son cinematographer, wants Salman to shoot in Kashmir, but doesn’t restore cinema

Ahmed Ali Fayyaz

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SRINAGAR, May  17: In the midst of his shooting for Kabir Khan's 'Bajrangi Bhaijaan' at Sonmarg on Sunday, Bollywood icon Salman Khan expressed his anguish over the fact that successive governments in Jammu and Kashmir had not made even a single theatre operational in the strife-torn Kashmir valley in the last 25 years.

Convicted by a trial court with five years of imprisonment in an alleged matter of rash and negligent driving but released on bail by High Court, Salman has returned to the Valley last week to complete his shooting schedules. After extensive filming in Pahalgam and other areas of Anantnag district, Salman has been busy with acting on the snowcapped Zoji La and the world famous tourist resort of Sonmarg on Srinagar-Leh Highway.

Salman, who has millions of his enthusiastic fans in J&K like other Indian States, said that he was "surprised" over the fact that not one of the theatres had resumed screening of films in Kashmir. He said it was surprising that the Kashmiris had been watching Bollywood films only through pirated DVDs on their laptops and computers. According to the top actor, it was "unfortunate" that the people of Kashmir had no access to 70 mm screens and multiplexes for entertainment.

All praise for the love and hospitality he enjoyed during his 40 days of shooting in Kashmir, Salman said he would like the Kashmiris to enjoy Bajrangi Bhaijaan on the big screen. The film is scheduled fir all-India release around Eid-ul-Fitr, two months from now. He said he was excited over the way his Kashmiri fans, including a poor elderly woman, had prayed for his bail.

Flanked by director Kabir Khan, Salman said Kashmir would be his first preference whenever he would need picturesque landscape in his films. He said he had his roots in Jammu and Kashmir as his maternal grand father hailed from Jammu region of the state.

Kabir Khan said he enjoyed shooting in Kashmir. He said that he would like to focus on Kashmir in his upcoming movies as well. "There is lot more that needs to be done so that Bollywood would make Kashmir its prime destination", Kabir said and emphasised on better Internet connectivity and road communication.

All the 15 theatres in Kashmir were closed down by the operators in the wake of threats from two militant outfits Hizbullah and Allah Tigers besides a sustained campaign by Asiya Andrabi's Dukhtaraan-e-Millat on December 31, 1989. Later, Farooq Abdullah's government reopened Broadway, Neelam and Regal cinemas in 1997-2000. However, Regal was shut within a day after one person died and over a dizen cine-goers were injured in a grenade attack. Subsequently both Neelam and Broadway too shut business in the wake of militant threats.

Claiming to be a supporter of Bollywood’s shooting films in Kashmir, Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed was recently in Mumbai to woo eminent producers, directors and actors to resume business in the Valley. In the pre-militancy halcyon days, Kashmir used to be a great attraction for Bollywood. Hundreds of the top popular films had been shot in the Valley.

From Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s “Mission Kashmir”, in which Preity Zinta played a lead role to Kabir Khan’s Bajrangi Bhaijan, over 30 films were shot in Kashmir during last 20 years. Vishal Bhardwaj’s “Haider” was almost entirely filmed in the Valley.

Interestingly, Chief Minister Mufti Sayeed’s only son Tassaduq has chosen film as his career after he obtained a degree in cinematography from an American school. He worked as cinematographer in Bhardwaj’s “Omkara” which was shot in different Indian States but not in Kashmir.

Most of the people associated with film and television productions in Kashmir believe that head of the PDP-BJP government, Mufti would never like to offend militants and separatists by restoring cinema as it had become an indicator of turmoil.

“Screening films and opening cinema could be seen as an end to militancy and return of peace. A CM like Mufti can’t be expected to give an affront to the separatists and their masters in Pakistan”, an eminent producer told State Times. “He just wants them shoot, not to screen their films”. The producer pointed out that all the “pro-separatist intellectuals”, including the man who later worked as co-writer of Bhardwaj’s “Haider”, had joined hands to sabotage the organisers’ plan of holding a literary festival in Kashmir. “They invariably contended that it could be interpreted as an indicator of normality”, he added.

END

Denied permission, YFN blames BJP for failure of Lalchowk flag hoisting

Ahmed Ali Fayyaz

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SRINAGAR, May 15: Youth For the Nation (YFN), a group of activists which had planned a peace march from Srinagar to Jammu on May 16^th, has not been permitted by the authorities to hoist the Indian Tricolour at Lalchowk even as it held BJP alone responsible for the failure of its programme.

YFN’s head Nirmandeep Singh told a local news agency on Friday that the authorities had denied permission to hoisting of the Indian national flag at Lalchowk with the argument that it could “hurt sentiments of the Kashmiri people”. Significantly, Singh blamed only the BJP in the ruling coalition for failing its programme, while alleging that a number of the group’s activists had been got arrested and detained in Jammu. Without mentioning name, Singh alleged: “I am surprised that the same leaders who encouraged us for May 16 march, stopped us and got us arrested few days back”.

“BJP forced us to call off our march of flag hoisting. It was the same BJP whose youth leader Anurag Thakur in 2013 started a march from Jammu to hoist the Indian flag in Srinagar. That time BJP was out of power and could not succeed in its march as the then government did not permit it. Now denying permission to the same activity has only exposed the BJP which is the ruling party in J&K today”, Singh said.

Singh claimed that hundreds of activists from Punjab, West Bengal, Haryana, Maharashtra, UP and West Bengal had arrived in Jammu to participate in the flag hoisting and peace march. “We have now suspended our march and our activists have returned to their respective places. Indian patriots are shocked to know that government didn’t allow Indian Tricolour to unfurl at historic Lalchowk”.

Meanwhile, the ruling PDP’s Chief Spokesman Dr Mehboob Beg said that some elements were hell-bent to trigger chaos in already perturbed Kashmir valley with hoisting of the Indian national flag on Saturday. “May 16 is neither Republic Day nor Independence Day. Why then are some elements trying to hoist the Tricolour in Kashmir?” Beg told a news agency.

Beg maintained that such an act could “further destabilize the situation and again put the Valley on the brink of another trouble that too at a time when it is gradually moving towards peace and stability”. 

“I fail to understand why some parties are this much adamant to hoist a flag at Lalchowk on May 16. What do they want to prove through it? We are not against the hoisting of the Tricolour, but why now?” Beg asked, adding that such a move would be “disastrous” and would disrupt law and order.

 “This act must be stopped in the larger interest of the state of Jammu and Kashmir. Under the garb of such an action, there are elements which try to disrupt the situation in the Valley”, Beg asserted.

YFN had announced the programme of the national flag hoisting after some separatist hardliners staged a series of pro-Pakistan demonstrations while shouting pro-Pakistan slogans and waving the Pakistani national flags in Kashmir last month.

END

Mufti’s Govt not to permit Lalchowk Tricolour show

Ahmed Ali Fayyaz

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SRINAGAR, May 14: With most of the separatist groups strongly opposing a Delhi-based outfit’s plan to hoist the Indian Tricolour at the business nerve centre of Lalchowk on May 16, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed’s PDP-BJP government has decided to detain the activists of ‘Youth For Nation’ in Jammu and at Srinagar Airport and not to issue permission for the show.

Highly placed sources in the State government disclosed to State Times that no show of hoisting the Tricolour would be permitted at Lalchowk on May 16^th. “Instructions are being flashed to SSPs of Jammu, Kathua and Srinagar to arrest anybody who would try to disrupt peace and create a law and order situation by the proposed flag hoisting on Saturday”, said a senior Police official. Unconfirmed reports said that some of the group activists, who had arrived in Jammu on Thursday, were being detained.

SSP Jammu Uttam Chand, however, insisted that nobody had been detained or arrested. “This is not a fact. We haven’t detained anybody. We only prevented a group of Congress and Youth Congress activists on Wednesday as they were attempting to travel in the opposite direction of that day’s scheduled convoy of traffic on Jammu-Srinagar Highway”, Uttam Chand told State Times.

SSP Srinagar Amit Kumar as well as Deputy Commissioner of Srinagar Farooq Ahmad Lone maintained that “to the best of our knowledge” no individual or group had applied for permission to a show of flag hoisting at Lalchowk. Permission to such a demonstration, political or non-political, is a must as restrictions under section 144 of Cr PC remain in force without break in all districts of Kashmir valley.

BJP’s MLC Surinder Ambardar and incharge for South Kashmir Vir Saraf claimed that the Delhi-based group, which had announced to hoist the Tricolour at Lalchowk, was in no way associated with BJP. Notwithstanding their clarification, an impression is gathering ground in the Valley that the organisers of the show were enjoying support of both BJP as well as RSS.

Several people on Facebook circulated appeals asking “all Kashmiris” to march to Lalchowk on May 16^th to foil the attempts of “communal forces” to hoist the Indian national flag. The posters typeset in Urdu were issued by “Sangbaaz Kashmiri” (an anonymous stone pelter).

In a significant development, formidable militant group Hizbul Mujahideen’s “Supreme Commander” and Chairman of Pakistan-based United Jijad Council, Syed Salah-ud-din, issued a strong reaction on Thursday. He alleged that on the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s diktat “RSS, Bajrang Dal and other right wing elements have entered the Valley to carry out slaughter of Muslims”.  He called the act of hoisting the Tricolour “in presence of lakhs of forces” as “no bravery but an act of cowardice”. He urged the international community to keep close vigil over the situation in Kashmir as the “communal mindset of right wing parties are hell- bent to create a stir in Kashmir”.

“Mufti government must not support Modi’s nefarious plans as it would prove costlier for it”, Salah-ud-din threatened.

A number of Kashmir’s separatist and guerrilla groups have already opposed the Delhi-based group’s plan.

END

NC MLA files privilege motion against CM

Altaf Wani is indignant over being “ignored” by Mufti during his tour of Pahalgam

Ahmed Ali Fayyaz

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SRINAGAR, May 13: Principal opposition party National Conference’s MLA from Pahalgam Altaf Ahmad Wani is incensed over being “ignored” by Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed during his visit to the world-famous tourist attraction. On Wednesday, Wani claimed to have filed a privilege motion against Mufti even as the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) spokesman Mehboob Beg asserted that Chief Minister was “not bound” to include the MLA in his entourage and Speaker as well as Secretary of Assembly maintained that they had not received any such motion.

Wani alleged at a news conference that his replacement by PDP’s defeated candidate Rafi Ahmad Mir during CM’s visit and meetings with the authorities at Pahalgam on Tuesday was a violation of the precedence and the protocol he was entitled to as MLA. He claimed to have immediately filed a privilege motion against CM in terms of Rule 238 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Jammu and Kashmir Assembly.

Speaker Kavinder Gupta as well as Secretary of Legislative Assembly Mohammad Ramzan, however, told State Times that they had not seen any member’s privilege motion till late on Wednesday. “Such a motion is supposed to be delivered by hand to Speaker. He reached late today from Jammu and I am not aware if he has received it”, Ramzan said. “No, I haven’t seen any such motion”, Speaker said on telephone.

PDP’s Chief Spokesperson Dr Mehboob Beg asserted that Chief Minister was by no law or practice bound to carry along with him any area’s MLA during an official tour. “Yes, the concerned legislators are entitled to attend and there’s no question of their replacement by any individual or authority if it is a District Development Board meeting. But yesterday Mufti Sahab was on an extensive tour of Anantnag district and he did not call any District Development Board meeting. Had he called one, the NC MLA would have been definitely invited along with all MLAs, MLCs, Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha members of the district. Therefore, there’s no question of violation of any MLA’s protocol”, Beg told State Times.

Flanked by NC MLA Abdul Majid Larmi, MLCs Ali Mohammad Dar, Qaisar Jamsheed Lone and Showkat Ahmad Ganai, besides the party’s spokesman Junaid Mattu, Wani complained that a Chief Minister, who had lately stressed on maintenance of sanctity of the Assembly and its members, had shown disrespect to an elected peoples’ representative.

Wani said that he had filed the privilege motion with a resolve to safeguard the democratic rights of the people of Pahalgam who had elected him as their representative.

“This was not Mufti Sahab’s personal sight-seeing tour of Pahalgam. This was an official tour where the Chief Minister was accompanied by officers of the District Administration and where a review was conducted of various works in the constituency. How can the Chief Minister or the State Government sideline the constituents of Pahalgam in taking decisions that affect them? I am the duly elected representative of Pahalgam and I will not allow the Government to subvert the verdict of the people in Pahalgam. The ‘Warrant of Precedence Protocol, Privileges and Amenities to the Members of the State Legislature’ has been violated and I have filed a Privilege Motion against the Chief Minister today”, Wani said.  

“Also as per the Development Authority Act, I am a Member of the Pahalgam Development Authority. A meeting was held at the Civil Secretariat to review the Master Plan of Pahalgam under the Chairmanship of Chief Minister and Minister incharge Tourism Mufti Mohammad Sayeed. I was neither informed nor invited to attend the meeting. Non-statutory as well as political workers of PDP along with Government officers were present, making this a political meeting in the guise of an official meeting. By doing this I was denied my statutory right to perform the functions of an elected MLA and member of the Pahalgam Development Authority”, he added.

END

First ‘composite township’ to come up in Kulgam

Ahmed Ali Fayyaz

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SRINAGAR, May 12: Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s BJP government at the Centre wants the first composite township for rehabilitation of about one thousand Kashmiri Pandit families to come up in South Kashmir’s Kulgam district within current year.

Knowledgeable sources revealed to State Times here on Tuesday that the Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh has discussed the plan of the displaced Pandits’ return and rehabilitation in detail with Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed. Singh, who has been in touch with some Pandit groups and leaders, has desired Mufti to provide 400 Kanals of land for construction of at least 1,000 flats somewhere in vicinity of Vessue, in Kulgam district, where a cluster of hutments had already been constructed for the Pandits who have been absorbed in government services and posted in Kashmir valley under former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s special package.

After a series of discussions in New Delhi, Mufti is understood to have received Singh’s call last week as the Home Minister wanted him to hasten the process of land acquisition for the first township in Kulgam district. Necessary instructions for identification of the site and land procurement have been communicated to the district Revenue authorities. A high level team from North Block, which has arrived in the summer capital today, is expected to conduct an inspection of the proposed site for security assessment in company of senior Police and Civil administration officials of the State government.

On Wednesday, Chief Minister is likely to visit Kulgam district alongwith a group of select Ministers, bureaucrats, Heads of Departments and senior Police and security officials. The team would carry out inspection of two proposed sites in Kulgam-Qazigund belt in the foothills of Pir Panjal mountain range. The process of land acquisition could start within a month.

Sources disclosed that Government of India was planning to create at least 10 of such townships for rehabilitation of the Pandits who were interested to return to the Valley but had serious security apprehension in living in their ancestral villages. “All the stakeholders, including the Pandit leaders and intellectuals would be involved with the rehabilitation process as soon as possible. Those keen to live in their own villages would be provided suitable land and an amount of Rs 20 lakh each family in instalments”, said a senior political source. According to him, government would also take on board MLA Devsar Mohammad Amin Bhat, MLA Noorabad and Minister of State Abdul Majid Paddar and MLA Kulgam Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami.

In the wake of strong resistance to the idea of creating “protected and isolated settlements and ghettos” from almost all the Valley’s separatist and mainstream opposition groups, the BJP-PDP coalition is toying with the idea of offering 25% of the flats to the Muslims interested in living in the neighbourhood of Pandits. Because of this, the settlements have been named as “composite townships”.

Sources said that the government would also allot houses on the pattern of the displaced Pandits to members of the Muslim and Sikh communities who had migrated to Jammu, Delhi and other places because of armed insurgency and who were interested in returning to the Valley.

END