EPILOGUE SEPTEMBER 2009

Jammu and Kashmir’s Monthly Magazine

RNI : JKENG/2007/26070

ISSN 0974-5653

Now Telling The J&K Stories

Epilogue because there is more to know

Jammu, September 1, 2009 / Vol 3 / Issue 9 || Price Rs. 30 || Postal Registration No. JK-350/2009-11 || www.epilogue.in

UNDERSTANDING

J&K ECONOMY THROUGH

BUDGET 2009-10 INTERVIEW

ABDUL RAHIM RATHER Finance Minister

Jammu V/s Kashmir

A Year After

AMARNATH LAND ROW Politics Behind Central University

“Yes, I am in Isolation” Interview :

Leela Karan Sharma

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33 Volume : 3, Number : 9 ISSN : 0974-5653

RNI : JKENG/2007/26070 www.epilogue.in F O R

T H E

M O N T H

O F

S E P T E M B E R

For being a zone of conflict, the politics of Jammu and Kashmir is a well reported subject but little has been written on the economy.

Taking advantage of the state's annual budget and economic survey, the present issue discusses the economic profile of Jammu and Kashmir. An essential guide for beginners and experts alike. A recall of J&K's Amarnath land row agitation of 2008 also makes an interesting reading

Epilogue Ă˜ 3Ă— September 2009

2 0 0 9

CONNECTING J&K onnectivity is a major issue in J&K and people in many areas taunt the government saying that roads were laid in remote areas only because they close to borders. Our March issue looked at the connectivity via roads, rail and air to bring to the fore the missing links.

C

Mar. 2009

TREADING FAILURE s world watches keenly the new unfolding developments in Pakistan, our Consulting Editor D Suba Chandran travelled to the troubled country to bring fresh perspectives for our readers in April Issue.

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Apr. 2009

J&K MOVING FORWARD ay issue was one of the rare collections of ideas where 12 natives from both sides of Jammu and Kashmir poured their ideas out of the heart on how boundaries can be blurred and relations can be strengthened.

May 2009

LOK SABHA POLLS 2009 ith Prof Rekha Chowdhary looking into various aspects, the May issue offered a complete view of the Lok Sabha elections in Jammu and Kashmir. An interview with Finance Minister Abdul Rahim Rather explained most critical questions on the state's economy

W

June 2009

THE FUTURE OF JAMMU AND KASHMIR uly 2009 issue offered a rare insight into the whole gamut of Kashmir issue. An ACDIS, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign sponsored study, which was the cover feature, examined Kashmir issue from different perspectives.

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July 2009

UNFOLDING THE LAND OF MOON ugust 2009 issue was one of the path-breaking in the life of Epilogue magazine. The cover story explored many aspects of life in Ladakh and carried a first hand of research on the state of media in the Himalayan cold desert.

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August 2009

A limited number of unbound back volumes is available in our stocks.

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Epilogue because there is more to know

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CONTENTS

Editor Zafar Iqbal Choudhary Publisher Yogesh Pandoh Consulting Editor D. Suba Chandran

Volume 3, Issue 9, September 2009

General Manager Kartavya Pandoh

IN FOCUS

Manager Adarsh Rattan Bali (Marketing & Advertisement)

Research Officer Raman Sharma Phones & email Office : +91 191 2493136 subscriptions : +91 99060 27136 Editorial: +91 94191 80762 Administration: +91 94191 82518 editor@epilogue.in subscription@epilogue.in

6 7 8

Note Book 7 Essential Entries

9

Jammu V/s Kashmir Jammu & Kashmir 44 A Year After Amarnath Land Row

Associate Editors Irm Amin Baig Tsewang Rigzin

Art Editor Keshav Sharma

In Verbatim Prologue Letters

Budget 2009-10

Epilogue Correspondent

Recalling ‘Gandhi of Jammu’ Opinion Needed Soul Searching Life After Sangarsh 2008 Kapil Sharma

Kashmir’s Democratic Catharsis

15

Opinion Ensure Taxpayers’ Money Goes to Programme that Work Bilal Hussain

17 19 40 42

46 50

51

Riyaz Wani

Game is lost for now as ‘Divided we always fall’

55

Zafar Choudhary

Budget 2009-10

Opinion 58 CUAS and the Stillborn Wannables

Ten Challenges

Anmol Sharma

New Taxes Interview ‘There are no quick fixes; we are working on a workable employment policy’ Abdul Rahim Rather

Printed and Published by Yogesh Pandoh for Epilogue NewsCraft from Ibadat House, Madrasa Lane, Near Graveyard, Bathindi Top, Jammu, J&K - 180012 and Printed at : DEE DEE Reprographix, 3 Aikta Ashram, New Rehari Jammu (J&K)

Features Changpa Tribe’s Identity, Way of Live Under Threat

61

Tashi Morup

The Fur Traders and The Lost Avenues

63

Binish Gulzar & Syed Rakshanda Suman

Column Kashmir Ki Kali... bruished and shattered

65

Manisha Sobhrajani

History of Forts in Jammu Hills Prof. Jigar Mohammad

Disputes, if any, subject to jurisdiction of courts and competitive tribunals in Jammu only.

RNI : JKENJ/2007/26070 ISN : 00974-5653 Price : Rs 30 Epilogue Ø 5× September 2009

67

H E A R

&

H E A R

Who Said What

“Where is the angry young man…he has not been seen in the House (Legislative Assembly) for last 12 days” Panthers Party leader Harsh Dev asks Speaker about prolonged absence of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah from the assembly which was session across August

“You can check the past records also…Chief Ministers don't sit in the Assembly for whole day…I have to attend other important government business outside Assembly” Chief Minister Omar Abdullah responding to opposition criticism on his prolonged absence from Assembly as he returns to House after 14 days

“She is continuously indulging in contempt of the House. She thinks that assembly is a room of her home and she can dictate any terms” Legislative Assembly Speaker Mohammad Akbar Lone on opposition PDP leader Mehbooba Mufti

“There have two elections in Jammu and Kashmir since I addressed you on last Independence Day. The first one was for state Legislative Assembly and second for Lok Sabha. Peoples of all areas of state have participated vigorously in these elections.

This is a proof that there is no space for separatist thought in Jammu and Kashmir” Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in his Independence Day address to the nation from ramparts of Red Fort in New Delhi on Aug 15 “Whom was (Justice) Muzaffar Jan (the Commissioner of Inquiry who probed Shopian rape and murder case) seeking to please and whose purpose did he try to serve? Never in the annals of commissions of inquiry such irrelevant and disgraceful remarks been made. Even a magistrate knows that rape is rape even if the victims be of mad moral” Constitutional expert and celebrated columnist AG Noorani in his column in Frontline Magazine

Epilogue Ø 6× September 2009

P R O L O G U E

From the Editor

Invest some vision Zafar Choudhary

A

state like Jammu and Kashmir with vast farmland, rich biodiversity, mineral reserves and water resources should ideally be the exporter of food grains, vegetables, mutton, poultry and milk products, minerals and electricity. The scenario, however, is contradictory. Take small examples: A state like Jammu and Kashmir with no sound industrial base or corporate sector is expected to be a major producer of agriculture, horticulture and animal husbandry products owing to agrarian character of its economy. Official statistics reveal that annual mutton import bill alone stand around Rs 1300 Crores. In case of food grains the gap between demand and supply is nearly of the order of 40 per cent. While there is a huge cry across the state for phenomenal shortage of milk and its products, state has to import nearly one crore eggs to meet its annual demand of three crores. There is self sufficiency in none. J&K is producer of good quality of fresh fruits, mainly apple, pear and apricot but domestic demand is met only after importing fruits around four times higher in quantity than the local produce.

Another sector which should have made Jammu and Kashmir rich enough to take care of weak areas is a perpetual sad story. No honest efforts

were ever made to harness the hydroelectric potential. Only less than 10% of the total potential has so far been exploited allowing the electricity import bill to become biggest culprit of state's financial disorder. Between 2006 and 2008, the Finance Ministers conceived an innovative way of separating the power budget from state's general annual budget in a bid to paint rosy picture of finances. The annual budget for the year 2009-10 presented by the Finance Minister Abdul Rahim Rather in Legislative Assembly on August 10 has, incidentally, done some justice to the people of Jammu and Kashmir by putting things across as they exist. The Finance Minister, in his budget speech, clearly reflected the loopholes in management of our economy and talked freely about the weaknesses which he proposed to plug in. after explaining the spending proposals, when the Finance Minister came to some revenue mobilization areas, the measures were again ad hoc and temporary to have some order of semblance for the time being. Some fresh taxes were imposed on daily use products like petrol, diesel, liquor, mutton and poultry etc to mobilize some additional revenue of some 69 crores. These small step measures are not going to bring any turnaround in state's economic outlook. The

Epilogue Ă˜ 7Ă— September 2009

FEBRUARY 2008

government needs to take some big leaps by going full throttle in harnessing the hydro-electric potential and making state self sufficient on food grain production.

Far more than the monetary investment both these sectors need an investment of vision and long term policy. We have long been arguing in these columns that economic empowerment of Jammu and Kashmir can be a viable solution to many conflicts, if not all. Therefore, along with political measures the government must think pure business as well.

Feedback : zafarchoudhary@epilogue.in

L E T T E R S

Readers Write Life Without Media, Unimaginable Dear Editor No words can be too high to appreciate the Rinchen Domla's work (Epilogue, August 2009) on state of print media in Ladakh. The argument made in the editorial that Ladakh is perhaps one of

the few places in the world being completely blacked out by the media is also not out of place. In India, the television channels and newspapers have become an essential part of the daily life of an ordinary Indian. Given the present media scenario in country, it is really difficult to imagine life in place like Ladakh, which your editorial has described in many ways. In your prologue, we see a commitment of serving the people of Ladakh through Epilogue and I am sure you live by commitment even in the face of adverse circumstances. Keep it up!

Move beyond Kashmir, Ladakh also

Dear Editor We have been hearing and reading about Charkha Development and Communication Network's work in Kashmir and Ladakh. While greeting Epilogue and Charkha for the marvelous work (Epilogue, August 2009) on Ladakh, I take this opportunity to make a humble complaint to the both. Why most of the media activities and research works are confined in Kashmir Valley and Ladakh alone.

Does anyone know why Rajouri MANOJ KHATTAR district has lowest literacy rate in Department of Civics Jammu and Kashmir, why banks don't Bombay University, Mumbai offer loan to the local entrepreneurs, why local traditional forms of art and craft Dear Editor, are being completely After reading the August issue with keen interest, I must shunned by the tell you that your title (Unfolding the Land of Moon) was artisans, why tribal quite misrepresentative is not fully misleading. The focus population has been (Ladakh asks) too was out of place. The point here I want forced to abandon its to make is that media has a wrong notion of understanding Ladakh with Leh district headquarters. This culture, why tourists is completely wrong and often appears hurting to many in Kargil. Ladakh comprises of two districts of don't come to this Leh and Kargil. Go the place like Nubra (in Leh) and Zanskar (in Kargil) to explore real Ladakh and area? There are many understand hardships people face there. I would again say that your work on the state of media questions like these (Epilogue, August 2009) is also completely restricted to Leh district headquarters which is well and many hopes that connected by air with Srinagar, Jammu, Chandigarh and Delhi. There is no question of doubting your NGOs and media will intentions but what I mean to suggest you is that there is a need to think beyond Leh township while someday offer some talking about Ladakh.

GHULAM ALI answers as we have Kargil failed to get answers from the government EDITOR REPLIES: We deeply appreciate the point raised by you and are well aware of the various contours of SHAHZAD KHAN geographical, political and ethnic identities of Ladakh. As your read our introduction of August Rajouri issue, we have clearly said that this is a small beginning and in the coming months we intend to do more work in Ladakh. Since Epilogue is not a large organization to move or have stationed its editorial staff in a place like Kargil, our coverage of ground realities in remote areas like yours mainly depends on the local input and quality of research work. While thanking you for your feedback, we invite you to contribute your efforts in telling the untold stories of the 'real Ladakh' as you put.

Leh Town is not Ladakh

Epilogue Ă˜ 8Ă— September 2009

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Not negotiating Kashmir: Holbrooke

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nited States Special Envoy for Pakistan and Afghanistan, Richard Holbrooke, who was on a visit to Pakistan, said on August 20 that his visit has nothing to do with the Indo-Pak problem, and that he is not in Pakistan to negotiate on the Kashmir issue. In an interview to a private television channel, Holbrooke said it was upto India and Pakistan to resolve the issue bilaterally. “Any improvement in Pak-India relations is also good for the world,” Holbrooke said.

In response to a question, Holbrooke said he had never blamed the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) for helping the Taliban. When enquired about US assistance to

Pakistan, Holbrooke said Islamabad needed more help to overcome its problems, but highlighted that such decisions cannot be taken independently by the US president.

“Pakistan should remember one thing that the President of the United States cannot take decisions himself, but we can make the request to the Congress,” the Online news network quoted Holbrooke, as saying. Terming the energy crisis in Pakistan as that country's biggest problem, Holbrooke said America is ready to in this regard, but Islamabad should try to fix the 'tremendous amount of leakage' that exists in the whole system. “US would help in this regard but the government and people of Pakistan have to take lead,” he said.

SEPARATIST LEADER'S INCARCERATION

Apex Court asks J&K Govt: Are you scared of a woman?

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fter twice being directed by the State High Court to shift a woman separatist leader from a Jammu jail to Srinagar, the state government got a reprimand from the Apex court of the country: “Is the state government scared of a woman” the Judges of Supreme Court asked while

referring to a plea for shifting Dukhtran-e-Millat chief Syeda Asia Andrabi from Jammu to Srinagar jail. The Supreme Court refused to entertain the petition filed by Jammu and Kashmir government regarding the shifting of Andrabi.

The state government had come in appeal against the state High Court order quashing its decision not to shift the founder chairperson of separatist organisation Dukhtaran-eMilat (daughters of faith) from Jammu to Srinagar jail.

Andrabi has been pressing for her shifting from Jammu to Srinagar jail so that she can meet her children. Her husband is already in jail in a murder case.

A bench comprising Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan and Justice P Sathasivam yesterday dismissed the appeal of the state government and rejected the contention of senior counsel Amrindar Saran that a large number of militants are lodged in Srinagar jail and if she has been shifted to Srinagar jail she may have access to the jailed militants and may resume her anti-national activities.

The judges asked the counsel, ''Is the state government scared of a woman?'' The state government has also failed to provide data regarding the number of woman prisoners presently lodged in Srinagar jail and also regarding the capacity of Srinagar jail for woman prisoners, the court observed.

Epilogue Ø 9× September 2009

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LOST IN TURMOIL

Govt says only 3400 persons missing, rights groups put figures twice that

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ven though the rights groups have sharply disputed the figures but the J&K government has told State Legislative Assembly that an estimated 3400 persons have been missing in custody or otherwise since the outbreak of armed insurgency in 1989. The human rights groups working in Kashmir, particularly the Association of the Parents of Disappeared Persons, have disputed government's figures and said that not less than 8000 persons were missing.

Official figures released in the State Assembly said 3,429 persons had disappeared between 1990 and July 2009, with only 110 persons missing after arrest by the security forces. Leading local and international rights groups have suggested over 8,000 people have disappeared in the region, with the majority having been arrested by Indian security forces.

The government, which gave no further detail about the missing people, also ruled-out forming a commission of inquiry to probe all the cases of disappearances, a statement released in the assembly said.

In 2007, a local group, the Association of Parents of Disappeared People, said it had found 940 "nameless graves" in 18 villages in Uri district, which neighbours the Pakistan-administered zone of Kashmir. Amnesty International has urged the government to determine if any of the graves contain the bodies of those listed as missing by local rights groups. Indian security officials contend many of the missing had crossed over to Pakistan to join the insurgents and say the graves are those of "unidentified" rebels killed in action.

Epilogue Ă˜ 10 Ă— September 2009

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SEPARATIST SPACE

PM's I-Day speech trigger debate in Kashmir There have been two elections in Jammu & Kashmir since I addressed you on the last Independence Day. The first one was for the State Legislative Assembly and the second for the Lok Sabha. People of all areas of the State have participated vigorously in both the elections. This is a proof that there is no place for separatist thought in Jammu & Kashmir.

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atron of the mainstream Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, as also most of the Valley's separatist political parties---including both factions of the Hurriyat Conference, JLKF and Jamaat-e-Islami---have strongly disputed Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh's latest interpretation of the massive participation of the Kashmiris in recently held Assembly and Lok Sabha elections and claimed that the democratic process had not marginalized the separatist politics.

In sharp contrast to the tone and tenure of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah's Independence Day speech, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had asserted in his ceremonial address at Red Fort in New Delhi yesterday that the reality of massive participation of the Kashmiris in Assembly as well as Parliamentary elections in recent past had left “no space for the separatist politics in Jammu & Kashmir”. Contrary to a many speculations---including the one of an offer of ceasefire with the militants in the holy month of Ramzan---head of the Congress-led UPA Government did not only ignore the Kashmiri separatists but also gave them an unprecedented affront.

Making a mockery of the J&K Chief Minister's olive branch to the separatists, Prime Minister said in rather an Advanian style that participation of large number of Kashmiris in the Assembly and Lok Sabha elections had left no room for the separatist politics in the state. It was significantly different from Dr Singh's speeches in the last over five years as he had repeatedly stated that his UPA Government believed in talking to all sections of opinion, including the separatists. He had invariably suggested the Kashmiri separatists would be taken

on board in the process of finding a solution to the Kashmiri problem. Mufti disputed Prime Minister's interpretation of the massive participation of the Kashmiris in the lately held elections and claimed that a durable and lasting solution to the Kashmir problem could be found by involving the alienated sections into a dialogue process and strengthening their belief in the country's democratic processes and institutions. He asserted that the separatist leaders had an important role to play.

Mufti emphasized on demilitarization and withdrawal of J&K Armed Forces Special Powers as also PDP's exclusive concept of constituting a “Joint Council” of the Legislatures of Indian-controlled Jammu & Kashmir and the Pakistanicontrolled Jammu & Kashmir.Officiating Chairman of Hurriyat Conference (Mirwaiz), Prof Abdul Gani Bhat, found it surprising that such a statement had been made by Dr Manmohan Singh who had repeatedly asserted in the Parliament that the solution to the Kashmir problem lay in a dialogue process with an all-inclusive involvement and participation. “We are the masters of the state and we alone will determine its fate”, Prof Gani said in a statement.

Spokesman of Syed Ali Shah Geelani's faction of the Hurriyat, Ayaz Akbar, said that Manmohan Singh had only destroyed his own image of a mature and responsible political leader by making a bellicose assertion and wrong interpretation of the elections. He said that Prime Minister of India had “like his predecessors” spoken the “language of power” and thus harmed India's image in the world of diplomacy and statesmanship. According to him, Dr Singh had “abused the Kashmiris” by taunting them as being “separatists”.

Identical statements of resistance poured in from Jammu & Kashmir Liberation Front, Jamaat-e-Islami, Jamiat-e-Ahli Hadith and Democratic Freedom Party.

Epilogue Ø 11 × September 2009

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REPEALING AFSPA

Militancy /

Merely a battle between NC, PDP

Disturbing

I

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n recent months the demand of repeal of Armed Forces Special Powers Act has seen a complete decentralization –traveling from political headquarters. However, the political leadership is still locked in a quagmire and they are making the issue more of a battle of one-upmanship between ruling National Conference and the opposition Peoples Democratic Party.

Witnessing the discussion over the issue in Legislative Assembly recently, it clearly looked like a battle for political survival between the two key players in Kashmir.

Concluding his exhaustive reply to the discussion on the grants sought for his departments, Law Minister Ali Mohammad Sagar dismissed PDP's campaign for withdrawal of AFSPA as “deceitful politics” and claimed that Mufti Mohammad Sayeed's party had never taken an initiative during six-year-long PDP-Congress coalition regime in 2002-08 for revoking the special powers granted to security forces in 1990. Even as Mehbooba Mufti confronted Sagar and blamed the NC Government for pioneering the imposition of Public Safety Act (PSA), Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA), Prevention of Terrorist Activities Act (POTA) as well as AFSPA in J&K, Sagar asserted that “misleading the people and Assembly with lies” was characteristic of the PDP. Sagar fiercely retaliated to Ms Mufti's charge that Omar Abdullah-led coalition government had slapped the PSA on many people from a 14-year-old boy to 80-year-old separatist leader, Syed Ali Shah Geelani, and claimed that his government had used minimum possible force to restore peace in Kashmir valley in the last eight months. “You will have to accept Mehboobaji that it was none other than your father who got Jagmohan as Governor in 1990 and imposed AFSPA on Jammu & Kashmir”, Sagar shouted on the PDP chief. “When your father was Home Minister of India, he made it a point of his ego to bring Jagmohan as Governor, issued an Ordinance and got the legislation done in Parliament within six months”, Sagar referred to the embryonic days of Kashmir insurgency in 1990.

“Total number of militants in 1989 was just 72. Dr (Farooq Abdullah) Sahab got them all arrested and later set them free for rehabilitation. Today, most of the leaders in this country are referring to militants as our children. On using the same phrase, a country-wide campaign of hatred was triggered off against Dr Sahab. He refused to yield on Jagmohan's appointment and resigned in protest alongwith 29 Ministers and MLAs. We sacrificed our Government for the people of this state. Even an orderly remains stuck to his chair”, Sagar grumbled on Ms Mufti and reminded her that it was her father, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, and his protégé, Jagmohan, who had given special powers to armed forces in J&K in 1990.

“Did you take a single initiative for withdrawing AFSPA during the six years of your Government?

Listen, Ms Mufti. I have checked all records and found that you people have never submitted a suggestion of revoking Armed Forces Special Powers Act to the Centre in the last six years of your Government. There has been not a single meeting on this subject for six years”, Sagar shouted on Mehbooba and her colleagues on the Opposition benches and claimed that Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had made sincere efforts from day one of his government for withdrawing the special powers enjoyed by the armed forces in the state notified as “disturbed area” nearly 19 years back.

“We don't believe in politics of deceit and double standards”, he said and claimed that even the Indus Water Treaty of 1960 had been signed with Pakistan when Mufti Mohammad Sayeed was a leader in Congress party and the NC founder, Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah, was in jail. He said he was indebted to Mufti Sayeed who had publicly confirmed this reality and asked Ms Mufti to be correct on the facts.

As leader of the 21 MLA-strong PDP, Ms Mufti, kept on her protestation and Speaker continued asking her not to disrupt the Minister's reply, she led a walk-out of nearly a dozen of her MLAs while casting the aspersion of being prejudiced and partisan against Mr Lone. It enraged the Speaker who warned her against her assertions and contended that it was a “contempt to the House”. He directed Secretary Assembly, Mohammad Ramzan, to issue a notice of “contempt to the House” against Ms Mufti.

Epilogue Ø 12 × September 2009

wing to a slow peace process and a variety of other reasons militancy in Jammu and Kashmir has been on constant decline over the years but the trends are now fast changing. In the recent past there have been numerous incidents of infiltration of militants through Line of Control and International Border and a marked step up in violence in the interiors. Top intelligence officials in Jammu and Kashmir feel that a large number of militants were waiting to sneak in across the border even as warnings of a “disturbing” surge echoed far away from the troubled Valley. At a Conference of

DEPLETING

Forests

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ut of total 20,230 sq km of forest in Jammu and Kashmir, about 144 sq km is

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infiltration

Trends: 194 crossed over in 4 months Chief Ministers on Internal Security in New Delhi on August 17, the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh remarked: “the levels of infiltration that had come down very substantially had seen a surge this year”. “The infiltrators are more battlehardened, better equipped and in possession of sophisticated” communication systems, he said at the conference.

In Kashmir, top intelligence sources said hundreds of militants had gathered at 42 training camps across the Line of Control and were waiting to cross over. “We fear escalation of violence during Ramazan, which is just days away,” said an official.

The United Jihad Council (UJC), an umbrella body of 13 militant outfits based in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, has already ruled out a unilateral cease-fire in Jammu and Kashmir during the Muslim holy month. “If the Government of India takes a positive step in this direction, the UJC will sit and think over it,” UJC chairman and Hizbul Mujahideen supreme commander Syed Salahuddin told a local news agency on Saturday.

The infiltration alerts, from Delhi and Kashmir, have come at a time the LoC has seen a spurt in militant activity. Sources said there had been at least 13 infiltration bids in the Kashmir valley alone that left dozens of militants and several jawans dead. The Border Security Force on August 16 foiled a major attempt when a group of militants tried to cross a river flowing close to the international border in Jammu's Samba sector.

Defence spokesman Lt Colonel J.S. Brar said the security forces had strengthened the counter-infiltration mechanism on the LoC that had suffered damage during the winter because of snowfall. “That is why most of the militants are being gunned down near the LoC and they do not succeed in crossing into the hinterland,” he said.

But it is learnt from sources that many militants had already entered the Valley. “Around 195 militants have managed to infiltrate into the Valley in the past seven months against the 84 in the corresponding period last year. Some of them have been killed or arrested but most are active,” an official said. He said 370 militants were active in Kashmir and that more than 40 per cent of them were foreigners. “This is in addition to 70 unlisted militants (unidentified but accounted for),” he added.

Although militant violence has come down substantially over the years, officials said a year of unrest that began with the Amarnath land row had helped the rebels, who were now back in a position to carry out attacks with ease. “Our counter-insurgency grid has been disturbed as our focus has been to quell street protests. In the process, the militants have regrouped and consolidated their position,” an official said.

GREEN COVER

substantially under occupation reported to be under illegal occupation. Officials said the 12,066 sq km of forest was in Jammu region while in Kashmir it was 8,128 sq kms. Ladakh region has just 36 sq km of forest.

In Jammu, about 95 sq km of forests are under encroachment, while in the Kashmir valley, it is about 49 sq km. It said encroachment on over 0.54 sq km has been removed in Jammu, while 18.65 sq km forest has been restored to department after evicting illegal occupations.

Epilogue Ø 13 × September 2009

DIP/J-2881

IN

FOCUS

Budget 2009-10 OPINION

Ensure Taxpayers' Money Goes to Programmes that Work BILAL HUSSAIN

The state of Jammu and Kashmir is mired in fiscal problems that cannot be covered up with the usual state budget fixes. The state has entered an unprecedented epoch of permanent fiscal crisis that demands real leadership and decisive action, which unfortunately current budget to larger extent is not endowed with. Nothing less than the solvency of the state is at stake.

T

he budget 2009-10 estimates the fiscal deficit for the current year at Rs 2081 crore. Looking back past year figures provide a grim picture for the state's fiscal position. The fiscal deficit for the year 2006-07 (Pre-actual) [RE] was Rs 1509 crores, the same figure for 2007-08 was Rs 2666 crore and for the year 2008-09 (BE) it stood at Rs 2330 crore.

To further worsen the state's fiscal position this year the government has already reached an agreement with the employee representatives for the implementation of 6th Pay Commission.

The move is expected to put further strain on the already scares resources of state exchequer which would require Rs 4200 crore for meeting the expenses of the pay commission. Finance Minister (FM), Abdul Rahim Rather, too ascertains this by saying, “The state has fewer resources available at present and the financial position of the state has been meticulously presented before the 13th Finance Commission. We are hopeful that very soon the state would be given adequate funds so that other demands of the employees could be fulfilled.”

To mention for the fiscal 2008-09 the state spends about 60 per cent of

the budget in paying salary-bill of the state. At present the state has over 3.32 lakh employees on its rolls. On the main items of expenditure, the current year's non-plan salary provision is Rs 6,594 crore in comparison to Rs 4,973 crore of past year. Additional provision of Rs 121 crore has been kept for salaries of migrant employees.

Power sector is another major concern for J&K, wherein the state has failed miserably in bringing deficit due to it down. Previous government managed a zero deficit budget by taking out power bill and put it separately as 'power budget', which hardly helped the state to bring down its electrical energy bill but could be termed as 'good window dressing'. The state has already the gap between expenditure incurred on purchase of electrical energy and revenue collected has nearly doubled from Rs 767 crore during the year 2003-04 to Rs 1,406 crore during last year.

The interest payments and servicing of debt figures of J&K has gone up by an alarming amount in the fiscal 200809. Rising interest costs and debt have cast a shadow on the financial health of the state. According to a report by the Reserve Bank of India for the fiscal 2008-09 J&K figures show an increase on

Epilogue Ø 15 × September 2009

interest payments and servicing of debt (budget estimate) compared to 200708. For the fiscal 2008-09 J&K was expected to spend a sum of Rs 160,055 lakh (budgeted estimates) on interest payments and servicing of debt, while as in 2007-08 the state had actually spent a huge amount of Rs 203,236 lakh (revised estimates) for the same. While this year the present coalition government has kept the provision for payment of interest at Rs 1,729 crore in comparison to last year's figure of Rs 1,602 crore. There was an immediate need to restructure the debt of the state as it adversely affects the state expenditure, and the current budget in this regard has not done much.

Every day the state spends crores of rupees more than it receives in revenue. Red ink is projected at Rs 1,729 crore for this year alone. Not only for the current budget cycle but for years to come, J&K must come to grips with budget gaps and bring the present debt level to a sustainable level to expect least.

Present government has put some Additional Resources Mobilization (ARM) in form of increasing taxes in certain sectors while leaving others. The current level of consumption of petrol

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in J&K is over 14 crore litres. The increase of cess to Rs 3 per litre is likely to yield additional revenue of Rs 28 crore per annum and about Rs 18 crore in the current financial year.

FM proposed an employment cess of Rs 1 per litre on diesel. The current level of consumption of this commodity is about 46 crore litres per annum. Therefore, the proposed measure is likely to yield annual revenue of Rs 46 crore per annum and additional revenue of Rs 30 crore in the current financial year.

In case of liquor the rate of GST on liquor is currently 20%. FM proposed to increase the same to 25%.

As such, estimates of expected additional revenue on this account are placed at Rs 21.50 crore per annum and Rs.15 crore in the current financial years.

Nearly 1.32 crore poultry table birds are being brought from outside the state annually. As adequate numbers of day old chicks are not available within the state, the poultry rearing units are also importing around 2.38 crore day old chicks which are subjected to toll tax at Rs 1 per chick. FM proposed to exempt import of day old chicks from payment of toll tax and increase the rate of toll tax on poultry birds from existing Rs 2 per bird to Rs 5 per kg.

The net additional revenue on this account is expected to be around Rs 4 crore per annum which will be utilized for development of poultry sector within the state.

Nearly 16 lakh sheep & goats are being imported from outside the state annually to meet the local mutton requirement. FM proposed enhancement of toll tax on sheep and goats from the existing rate of Rs 25 per head to Rs 35 per head.

This may yield additional revenue of

Every day the state spends crores of rupees more than it receives in revenue. Red ink is projected at Rs 1,729 crore for this year alone. Not only for the current budget cycle but for years to come, J&K must come to grips with budget gaps and bring the present debt level to a sustainable level to expect least. *********** J&K spends about 60 per cent of the budget in paying salary-bill of the state. At present the state has over 3.32 lakh employees on its rolls. On the main items of expenditure, the current year's non-plan salary provision is Rs 6,594 crore in comparison to Rs 4,973 crore of past year.

Additional provision of Rs 121 crore has been kept for salaries of migrant employees ********* The current level of consumption of petrol in J&K is over 14 crore litres. The increase of cess to Rs 3 per litre is likely to yield additional revenue of Rs 28 crore per annum and about Rs 18 crore in the current financial year

Epilogue Ă˜ 16 Ă— September 2009

Rs 1.60 crore annually.

From all the above raise of taxes none of the sector yields more than Rs 50 crore. But the sectors left out by the state government that takes away huge capital from the state are exempted, what for? All these tax raises has ultimately to come from poor denizens of the state.

Why are sectors that make huge profits from the state are left out like telecom sector (mobile companies), which at current takes away huge sum of Rs 1000 crore annually from the state, a tax rate of 10% would earn Rs 100 crore for state. This sector hardly makes a mention in the current budget.

Outside private banks that hardly manage the required credit deposit ratio in the state, scarcely lend to priority sector, and even they shy away in lending to productive purposes (Business lending). Why can't state think of putting penalties in form huge sums, which again could provide the state huge sums?

What about the insurance sector operational here why can state put some tax on them too who have a market base of over Rs 1500 crore in the state.

Why left the automobile sector, put heavy import duty on them too this also could prove a good annual resource for state. And many other sectors wherein the state gets lesser benefits compared to outside states.

As of now, I think it is time to reform government at all levels and make it more accountable. What we need is different approach to budgeting, turning from what we cut to what we keep. In short, making sure taxpayers' money goes to programs that work, that taxpayers can afford and people need.

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BUDGET 2009-10

B

reaking a six-year long precedence, the Finance Minister Abdul Rahim Rather reflected in his budget proposals for 2009-10 the way things existed. His two predecessors between 2002 and 2008 –Muzaffar Hussain Baig and Tariq Hameed Qarra –brought in a unique concept of Zero Deficit Budget which would always come for severe criticism from Rather as leader of Opposition. As he returns to present ninth Budget of his career, Rather has clearly shown the deficit which, of course, is on declining trend. A vast majority across Jammu and Kashmir has largely given their word for Rather's budget but there are some exceptions also, particularly coming from industry and trade sector and also from millions of employment seekers. A reading into Rather's budget speech in the Legislative Assembly on August 10 gives a reflection of ideas that remained at the back of his mind since January 2009 when he took over as the Finance Minister and sought more time (state Budget is normally presented in the month of March) to touch upon the ground realities. Excerpts from the speech make it simple for everyone to understand as how rupee is coming and where is it going:

Epilogue Ø 17 × September 2009

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suneerbhat@gmail.com

Fully Funded Plan

T

he state needed a liberal annual outlay to make up the erosions in resource base. To the advantage of state, the Planning Commission have formulated a massive plan of action which may enable J&K to access development expenditure upto Rs.10,000 crore under various programmes.

The State Plan outlay has been fixed at Rs.5500 crore in comparison to Rs.4500 crore of last year indicating a 22.22% jump in money terms. In real terms, the increase is much more if the transfers made from plan to non-plan are taken into account. The State plan outlay has been topped by a provision of Rs.1200 crore under PMRP. For the first time, the government have proposed the highest ever allocation of Rs.643 crore to meet 100% requirements of the State share for various centrally sponsored schemes which will enable the state to access about Rs.1800 to 1900 crore of the central share. A sum of Rs.220 crore provided under PMRP as counter part state share will enable us to raise matching World Bank loans under Economic Reconstruction Agency (ERA). The flow of funds under various Central mega flagship schemes like JNNURM, NRHM, NREGA, SSY, RGVY etc shall be over and above the figures mentioned above. “What is more important”, says the Finance Minister “is the fact that the resources for funding the state plan outlay, Centrally Sponsored Schemes and other programmes have been fully tied up and thus the current year's plan is fully funded”.

th

At the beginning of 11 Five Year Plan, the growth rate for the current financial year 200910 for the state was targeted at 8%. However, the growth rate achieved during the first two th financial years of 11 FYP indicates that the stiff target of 8% for 2009-10 appears difficult to be achieved. It is expected that the state economy will clock growth around 7% in 2009-10.

Growth Rate of GSDP at current prices was higher at 16.28% in 1996-97 as compared to 10.89% from 2002 onwards Growth rate of GSDP at constant prices was 20.93% in 1996-97 as compared to 5.64% from 2002 onwards

Year 2001-02 2007-08 Annual Growth Rate 1996-97 2001-02 Annual Growth Rate

GSDP at current price Rs. 18039.35 crore Rs. 31793.04 crore 10.89% p.a Rs. 9124.34 crore Rs. 18039.35 crore 16.28% p.a

Epilogue Ø 18 × September 2009

GSDP at constant price Rs. 16530.81 crore Rs. 23060.48 crore 5.64% p.a.

Rs. 7327.40 crore Rs. 16530.81 crore 20.93% p.a

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TEN CHALLENGES As seen by Finance Minister The rate of growth of our GSDP and our per capita income which used to be ahead of all India average, six to CHALLENGE eight years ago, have fallen behind and consistently remained below the national average afterwards.

1 2

The gap between expenditure incurred on purchase of electrical energy and revenue C H A L L E N G E collected has nearly doubled from Rs.767 crore during the year 2003-04 to Rs.1,406 crore during last year.

3 4

The fiscal deficit touched a high of Rs. 2,666 crore, during the year 2007-08.

CHALLENGE

In a normal situation we should have received Rs.200 to Rs.250 crore more in the current C H A L L E N G E year on account of our share in the central taxes. It has been, instead reduced by about Rs.105 crore in the current year due to economic slow down.

During the 4-year period given by the Twelfth Finance Commission, the government did not CHALLENGE meet the FRBM targets by the prescribed dead line, which was 31 March 2009.

Therefore, we have been denied debt relief estimated at Rs.473 crore recommended under the Twelfth Finance Commission Award. We also lost an amount of Rs.229 crore as the government did not hold Panchayat elections.

Further, the revenue gap grants for the current financial year available under the Award are about Rs.100 crore lower than the revenue gap grant received last year.

5

6

Plan revenue expenditure of nearly Rs.1200 crore was shifted to non-plan during a three-year CHALLENGE period commencing with 2006-07. For this purpose plan resources were also transferred to non-plan. These transfers now form part of the non-plan gap as no additional resources were mobilized during these years specifically to take care of this additional burden.

Epilogue Ø 19 × September 2009

Ä The target growth rates set

for the state's economy at the th beginning of the 11 FYP were 7% for 2007-08 and 7.5% for the year 2008-09.

The growth rate for the state is increasing surely but slowly over the years and still lags behind the national level growth rate. Ä The Gross State Domestic

Product (GSDP) at factor cost works out for J&K to be Rs 24471.31 crores, indicative of a growth of 6.12% in 2008-09 as compared to the growth of 6.28% in 2007-08 (Advance estimates). Ä The Per Capita Income for

the state during 2007-08 at constant (1999-00) prices works out to be Rs. 20604/only as against the Per Capita Income of Rs 27442/- at all India level for the same period.

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7 8

CHALLENGE

A huge amount of Rs.917 crore due for payment to National Small Savings Fund (NSSF) on account of loans taken by the State Government was not provided for in the relevant financial years.

The Government then borrowed from the market to clear the liability. The burden of this additional borrowing has fallen on the subsequent years including the current one.

Sixth Central Pay Commission report has C H A L L E N G E also fallen in our way in the current financial year. The Government has to bear an additional burden of Rs.1067 crore for the 8 months of the current financial year on account of increased salaries and pension.

10 C H A L L E N G E

9

Funds received from various Ministries in Government of India under Centrally Sponsored Schemes were not authorized in time and got temporarily reCHALLENGE appropriated towards meeting non-development expenses. We have identified, authorised and revalidated about Rs.550 crore in the current financial year to make up for the previous short falls and thus restored our credibility before the concerned Ministries. Obviously, it has resulted into additional strain on our current year's budgetary resources.

The three-year life of Power Reform Grant amounting to Rs.1300 crore per annum given by the Centre to the previous government came to an end on 31 March 2009.

No such grant is now available in the current financial year.

Biggest Challenge The biggest challenge before Jammu and Kashmir is to boost the economic activities to catch up with national growth rate and per capita income. There is an urgent need to control large scale flight of capital for mass procurement of a wide variety of consumption goods such as food grains, pulses, spices, oils, mutton, poultry, eggs, processed food, clothing, energy, building materials and other utility items. For this purpose, it is important to focus energies and resources on increasing local production and thus expanding the employment base by improving our productivity, profitability and competitiveness. Therefore, the Finance Minister says, “we intend to adopt a cluster approach in order to concentrate our resources on such clusters and obtain quicker results. In all-important fields, private participation shall not only be encouraged but also pro-actively promoted”.

Epilogue Ø 20 × September 2009

Ä District Srinagar, Jammu

and Kathua are among the top three ranked districts in terms of Gross Per Capita Income of Rs. 30052/-, Rs. 28712/- and Rs. 27696/respectively whileas Kargil is the lowest ranked district with Rs. 11922/- precedted

by Kupwara and Leh districts with Gross Per Capita Income of Rs. 16360/- and Rs. 20237/respectively at Current Prices of 2005-06 Ä Contribution of Primary

Sectors, Secondary and tertiary sectors to the GSDP for 2008-09 (pre) has been 25.82%, 28.29% and 45.89% respectively while as at all India level, the contribution of these sectors to GDP was 20.55%, 24.71% and 54.74% respectively as per figures of 2006-07. Ä The Per Capita Plan

expenditure during 2007-08 and 2008-09 works out to be Rs. 3613/- and Rs. 3815/- respectively as compared to the Per Capita Plan outlay of Rs. 3254/- at national level for 2007-08 (RE

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Annual Plan

I

n the current year's plan of Rs.5,500 crore, the Revenue expenditure is estimated at Rs.653 crore and capital expenditure at Rs.4,847 crore. The government have decided to give special thrust to the Sectors of Agriculture & Allied Activity, Irrigation, Transport, Social Services including Health & Education and General Services including World Bank funded development programmes of ERA. The exact increases in various Sectors shall get crystallized after tie up with the concerned Ministries in the Government of India in respect of Centrally Sponsored Schemes & with the funding agencies in case of tied up allocations. To that extent, the increases reflected in the sectoral outlays are to be taken as tentative. The allocation for agriculture and allied activities has been proposed about 30% higher from previous year's level of Rs.151.96 crore to Rs.197.30 crore in current year. The allocation in the Irrigation and Flood Control Sector has been kept 122% higher from the last year's level of Rs.208.85 crore to Rs.464.33 crore in the current year. The allocation in the Transport Sector is proposed to be tentatively enhanced by 90% from the previous level of Rs.486.20 crore to Rs.923.99 crore in the current year. The allocation in the Social Services Sector is proposed to be increased by 42.87% from the level of Rs.1089.17 crore to Rs.1556 crore. The General Services are proposed to get enhanced allocation of Rs.638 crore representing an increase of 36.62% over the previous year's level of Rs.467 crore.

Broad Parameters Ä The current year's total receipts have been estimated at Rs. 22,739 crore in comparison to last year's figure of Rs.19,077 crore. In the current fiscal, Rs.19,462 crore are expected as revenue receipts and Rs.3,277 crore as capital receipts. The current year's total revenue expenditure is estimated at Rs.14,949 crore, indicating a revenue-surplus of Rs.4,513 crore. The total capital expenditure is estimated at Rs.7,790 crore. The fiscal deficit is estimated to come down to Rs.2,081 crore representing 5.4% of our current year's estimated GSDP in comparison to 6.9% of last year. Ä The total tax revenue of the State is estimated at Rs.3,111 crore for the current financial year as against Rs.2,693 crore of last year. The tax GSDP ratio is expected to improve to 11.2% in comparison to 11.0% of last year. The VAT collections are estimated at Rs.2,066 crore as against Rs.1,853 crore of last year indicating an increase of 15%. The State Excise is expected to yield Rs.260 crore in the current year as against the budgeted figure of Rs.250 crore of last year. Taxes on goods and

passengers are expected to reach Rs.316 crore in comparison to Rs.297 crore of last year. Ä The non-tax revenue has been estimated at Rs.1219 crore as against the corresponding budgeted figure of Rs.1127 crore of last year. Ä Market borrowings for the current year have been kept at Rs.818 crore in comparison to Rs.1264 crore of last year.

Institutional loans for funding capital expenditure and share in National Small Savings have been assumed at last year's levels of Rs.700 crore and Rs.453 crore respectively. Ä On the main items of expenditure, the current year's nonplan salary provision is Rs.6,594 crore in comparison to Rs.4,973 crore of last year. Additional provision of Rs.121 crore has been kept for salaries of migrant employees. The provision for payment of interest has been kept at Rs.1,729 crore in comparison to last year's figure of Rs.1,602 crore. Provision for purchase of electrical energy is Rs.1,996 crore. Rs.1,412 crore have been provided to meet expenditure on pension and retirement benefits.

Growth Rate of Per Capita Income at constant prices during 1996-97 to 2001-02 at 16.25% as compared to 3.95% from 2002 onwards

2001-02 2007-08 Growth Rate 1996-97 2001-02 Growth Rate

Rs. 13784.00 crore Rs. 17590.00 crore 3.95% p.a Rs. 6978.00 crore Rs. 13784.00 crore 16.25% p.a

Epilogue Ø 21 × September 2009

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KEY SECTORS Importance and allocations

Agriculture & Allied Sectors:

Ä Plan Size of Rs.

25833.98 crore agreed for 11th FYP period is 78.16% higher than plan size of Rs. 14500.00 crore of 10th FYP. Energy with Rs. 8196.95 crore is the priority sector for development followed

by Social Services sector with an outlay of Rs. 6501.40 crore and General Economic Services and Transport with outlays of 2740.98 crore and Rs. 2660.81 crore respectively. Ä Budget estimates of the

T

hough the Primary Sector's contribution in the GSDP has slipped down to 26%, its importance cannot be over-emphasized as it sustains 75% of our rural population and 50 % of our work force. The main areas of concern are low Seed Replacement Rate, inadequate double cropping and sub-optimal use of other inputs.

A large part of agricultural areas of the state including Kashmir Valley have been traditionally presumed to be single crop areas. Even crops like mustards, oilseeds and fodders have not drawn 100% attention of the farmers in double cropping. SKUAST,

Kashmir has developed varieties of wheat seed to suit such climate and introduced a new 'rice-wheat rotation' technique. For the forthcoming Rabi season, the government shall focus on popularizing this programme.

Availability of manpower and pressure on time of successive agricultural operations prove to be important constraints against double cropping.

Accordingly, the government has proposed 25% subsidy on the cost of power thrashers and paddy transplanters under Agriculture Farm Mechanization Scheme to effectively deal with these twin problems.

Epilogue Ø 22 × September 2009

state for 2008-09 stood at Rs. 18466.00 crore which is 15.81% more than 2007-08 figures. Ä Estimated

disbursements for the year 2008-09 were placed at Rs. 12428.00 crore under non-plan budget and Rs. 6038.00 crore under plan budget.

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Horticulture: For Horticulture sector, the current year's proposed outlay is Rs.13.82 crore in comparison to Rs.12.65 crore allocated last year. The department will substantially increase the availability of high-density plantation material over its present level of nearly 2 lakh saplings per annum by involving private sector and ensuring quality control. Production of apricots in Current year's allocation Kargil & Leh, cherries, strawberries, for horticulture sector is Rs. plums in Kashmir Valley and other regions 13.82 crore against Rs. with similar agro climatic conditions, olive 12.65 crore last fiscal. in Uri and Ramban areas, pears in the Districts of Poonch and Rajouri and other areas having similar agro climatical conditions, sub-tropical fruits in the areas of Jammu Division and cultivation of minor fruit crops in the wastelands and Kandi areas shall be given priority. Production of saffron, siyah zeera, aromatic plants and herbs shall be given the much needed boost. Agriculture Production Department and Planning Department shall arrange to carry out economic analysis of various commercial operations to determine their sustainability and to identify the areas where additional government support is required. A cluster approach shall be adopted for expanding production and improving productivity.

Commercial Floriculture Over 840 growers have been registered by the Floriculture Department, each having green house facilities of at least 2 kanals. These registered growers have made a good beginning by selling flowers in the markets outside the state. The government shall actively and financially help them to explore the export market in the Middle East by taking advantage of international airport at Srinagar. The

Airport Authority of India has conveyed no objection to the transfer of land to the Directorate of Floriculture for setting up of cooling chambers. Request has been made to APEDA to provide necessary financial support to start work on this project, which will help in exports of perishable commodities like cut flowers, delicate fresh fruits and trout fish etc.

Growth rate of Net State Domestic Product (NSDP) at constant price during 1996-97 to 2001-02 at 20.74% as compared to 5.54% from 2002 onwards

2001-02 2007-08 Growth Rate 1996-97 2001-02 Growth Rate

Rs. 14184.90 crore Rs. 19687.08 crore 5.54% p.a Rs. 6320.65 crore Rs. 14184.90 crore 20.74% p.a

Epilogue Ø 23 × September 2009

Ä The State Government

resorted to an overdraft (OD) of Rs. 2299.53 crore from J&K Bank as ways and means (WAM) facility to meet temporary mismatches in liquidity during 2008-09. Ä With the successful

introduction of the VAT in the state, the tax revenue has increased by 42.25% from Rs. 1799.00 crore in 200607 to Rs. 2559.00 crore as per actuals for 200708. For the year 200809, the tax revenue has been estimated to be Rs. 2693.00 crore which indicates 5.24% increase over 2007-08 actuals. Ä 59.72%, 31.42%,

8.68% and 0.18% disbursements were meant for revenue account, capital account, interest payments and loan disbursements respectively during 2008-09.

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Sericulture Industry: Kashmir Silk was always rated as of the best quality but immediately after demonopolisation of the industry around the year 1988-89, it was severely

only 25 to 30% of the total production and the rest of the cocoons are sold outside the state. A corpus fund is in operation for market intervention,

J&K's annual cocoon production is estimated at 8 lakh kgs valued at Rs. 7 crore. Cocoon rearing sustains livelihood of 22000 rural families in 2150 villages. The consumption in local silk units in only upto 30%, therefore, rest of it has to be sold outside state. damaged during the period of militancy. After its partial revival, the industry still sustains about 22000 rural families in 2150 villages producing 8 lakh kgs of cocoons valued at nearly Rs.7 crore. The local silk units consume

running silk exchange and cocoon bank.

The Finance Minister has announced formation of a Multi Task Force comprising of experts from all the relevant fields to look into various aspects of mulberriculture, sericulture, weaving and silk industry.

Animal Husbandry Sector Annual mutton consumption in J&K is of the order of around Rs. 1300 crore. Around 3.5 million sheep and goat are slaughtered a year and half of them are imported, mainly from Gujarat.

The state is woefully short in meeting its requirements of mutton, poultry meat, eggs and woolens.

Presently we are importing nearly 16 lakh sheep annually for meeting the shortage of mutton. We intend to a d op t a h ol i sti c a p p roa c h i n

Ä As on December 2008,

944 bank branches of all Scheduled Commercial Banks were functioning in J&K, constituting 1.21% of total banking network of 77750 banks in the country. Ä Against deposits of Rs.

25885.00 crore, the Scheduled Commercial Banks have made advances of Rs. 12846.00 crore as on December 2008 with CDR of 49.63% in the state as against the CDr of 74.76% in the country during the same period. Ä 80.38 of the reporting

developing our animal and sheep husbandry sectors. An embryo transfer technology is on experimental stage to develop a muttonous breed of sheep named Dorper. Results are expected towards the end of August, 2009.

Epilogue Ø 24 × September 2009

area constituted the net area sown of the state during 2007-08, 41.97% and 40.85% of the net area sown and gross area sown respectively was irrigated for 2007-08.

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Poultry

Annual consumption of eggs in J&K is estimated between 200 to 300 crore.

50 crore are imported.

Ä Credit Deposit ratio The import of poultry birds is estimated at 1.30 Crores annually. The quantity of eggs imported annually is estimated at 50 Crore. The consumption potential is estimated between 200 to 300 Crore.

The Government intends to adopt a multi pronged strategy for increasing the production of poultry meat and eggs. Rearing capacity of day old chicks in the government farms shall be fully utilized and establishment of hatcheries in the private sector shall be encouraged. Import of day old chicks shall be facilitated so long as local production capacity of day old chicks is improved to meet full requirement of poultry farms. The poultry department shall also work out the feasibility of promoting large-scale hatcheries for breeding of improved parent stock equipped with R&D facilities, in PPP mode.

Infrastructure Emphasis is on completion of the ongoing road programmes in the current and the next financial years. The progress of works under PMGSY so far has been very slow and the government vows to provide special attention and full funding for completion of all on going projects in the plan. Power is prime infrastructural requirement.

Depending upon the progress of various Hydel Projects, namely Baglihar II, Sawalakot, Ganderbal, Parnai and those in other places allocated to JKSPDC, full funding shall be ensured in the plan of current year. Effort shall also be made to complete detailed project reports, clearances from various Ministries & organizations, and complete other formalities in respect of other approved projects.

Revenue realized during 1997-98 to 2001-02 at 34.48% as compared to 23.54% from 2002 onwards

2001-02 2007-08 Growth Rate 1996-97 2001-02 Growth Rate

Rs. 460.84 crore Rs. 1328.45 crore 23.54% p.a Rs. 169.18 crore Rs. 460.84 crore 34.48% p.a

Epilogue Ø 25 × September 2009

(CDR) in the state is improving over the years but its dispersal among the districts is not encouraging.

Ending December 2008, the highest Credit Deposit Ratio was observed for Srinagar district with 84.65% followed by Shopian with 59.62%.

Lowest credit deposit ratio of 15.12% was observed for Kargil district, the next two low ranking districts in the credit-deposit ratio are Kishtwar (15.98%) and Ramban (19.06%) Ä Cropping intensity for

2005-06 in the state was 150.05% as against 135.88% intensity in country for the same period. The cropping intensity has further increased in the state to 154.49% during 2007-08.

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Social Sector

Ä On an average one

SCHOOLS WITHOUT BUILDINGS

Rajouri Baramulla Anantnag Kupwara Badgam Kathua Kishtwar Kulgam Srinagar Ramban Bandipora Pulwama Ganderbal Shopian Kargil Poonch Jammu Doda Reasi Udhampur Leh Samba

580 538 508 498 488 452 341 314 285 280 268 240 147 105 104 84 71 61 18 18 10 2

Plan allocation for elementary education has been hiked to Rs. 358 crore against Rs. 169 crore last fiscal.

Health and Education sectors are centric to human development policy.

Primary education for all children with focus on female literacy and 100% adult literacy in a short time frame are government's avowed goals. The plan allocations for elementary education are proposed to be increased to Rs.358 crore from last year's level of Rs.169 crore. Higher and Technical Education sector is also being given similar treatment.

Primary Health care is basic to human development and secondary and tertiary sectors meet critical needs of the families. The Primary Health Services Sector is proposed to receive enhanced plan allocation of Rs.164 crore in current year in comparison to Rs.105 crore of last year. Meanwhile, Rs.40 crore are being exclusively earmarked under State plan for Dal development during the current year. Forestry sector is proposed to be given Rs.27.50 crore in comparison to Rs.24.50 crore of last year.

Plan allocation for Primary Health Services has been hiked to Rs. 164 crore against Rs. 105 Crore last fiscal.

Epilogue Ø 26 × September 2009

bank is available per 107.40 Sq Km and 13000 people. These figures for the country work out to be 40.73 Sq Km and 15000 people. Ä 68% bank advances are

received by Jammu (24%) and Srinagar (44%) districts leaving thereby only 32% advances to be shared by the remaining 20 districts of the state. Ä Jammu and Kashmir

economy continues to be predominantly agrarian although the contribution of agriculture and its allied sectors towards GSDP has decreased from 51.05% in 198081 to 31% in 1999-00 and then 27% in 200708. Individual share of agriculture in GDSP is estimated to be 8 to 9%.

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Industries Two private sector Textile Parks are coming up in Kathua district with investment of Rs. 337 crore. 56 upcoming units are expected to direct/indirect employment for 8000 persons.

The present contribution of trade and industry to GSDP is 28.29%. The government intends to exploit raw materials located in the backward regions by promoting local industry through clusters of industrial units in identified thrust areas like food processing, textiles, leather processing, handicrafts, handlooms, minerals, Information Technology and many others. A new shelf of technoeconomic feasibility reports shall be prepared for this purpose and Special Purpose Vehicles shall be created to implement such cluster schemes. Land measuring 500 kanals has been earmarked for Leather Zone in Industrial Growth Centre, Lassipora. A Common Effluent Treatment Plant (CETP) is under construction under the guidance of Central Leather Research Institute (CLRI) at a cost of Rs.642 lacs with 50% funding by Government of India. The CETP is expected to be completed by March, 2010. Two Textile

Present contribution of J&K's trade and industry to state's GSDP is 28.29%

th

Ä As per 4 advance Parks in the private sector are coming up at Ghatti and Govindsar in Kathua district over 240 kanals of land with investment of Rs.337 crore, for 56 number of units expected to generate direct employment for 4000 persons to be engaged in spinning, weaving, processing, garmenting and ancillary activities as also indirect employment to another 4000 persons. Two clusters of cricket bat units and wood based industry are being promoted at Sangam and Bagh-i-Ali Mardan khan respectively. A silkcum-textile park is being promoted at Zakoora.

Re j u v e n a t i n g t h e e x i s t i n g Industrial units is as necessary as creation of new units. In this behalf, the government proposes to create two special rehabilitation task forces for revival of sick units on fast track basis.

The Industrial Estates lying closed shall be reactivated and their dilapidated infrastructure shall be upgraded.

Efforts are being made to spot additional 20,000 kanals of wasteland for creation of a land bank for new industrial units, particularly in the backward areas. Efforts are also being made to locate a big chunk of wasteland where a special industrial zone can be created.

The Directorate of Geology and Mining, which has become defunct is being re-activated to prospect, explore and identify new mineral deposits of the State. The viable economic units of the public sector undertakings shall be revived. The uneconomic units shall be closed down and the staff given another opportunity to avail of Golden Handshake Scheme.

The trade and industry have been highlighting their problems connected with compliance of various procedures, processes and regulations. In order to

Epilogue Ø 27 × September 2009

estimates, foodgrains production in the state during 2008-09 is projected to increase to 16275 thousand quintals which will record 3.62% increase over foodgrains production of 15707 thousand quintals for 2007-08. Ä Average holding size of

0.67 hectare for the state and 1.32 hectares for the country has been recorded by 2000-01 Agriculture Census. Ä Contribution of

agriculture and allied sectors to GSDP is estimated to be 27% for 2007-08 as against the all India average of about 21% for 200607. Horticulture accounts for nearly 45% returns of agriculture sector in the state.

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attend to such issues on a continuous basis, the Finance Minister has proposed to create a standing forum in the form of an inter-ministerial group of officers in association with all Stake holders. The Forum will look into the desirability of dispensing with some of

the mandatory inspections, filing of returns and other connected matters faced by them under various laws, including barrriers in free movement of rawmaterials and trade goods. The Forum shall devise procedural and IT Solutions to such problems.

Urban Local Bodies With the democratic decentralization, the Urban Local Bodies have been empowered to take charge of local self government. Their performance and initiative in some areas of public concern is indeed being appreciated.

However, voices are also being raised by some quarters alleging delays in or denial of building permission in some cases, condonation of violation of building bylaws in some other cases, lack of sanitation and cleanliness within the municipal areas, insufficient system of redressal of grievances, etc. In respect of one Municipal Committee, the industrial units have alleged harassment in the name of charging of lorry adda fee from them even if they claim to be not connected with the use of such lorry adda.

It is for the concerned local municipal bodies to investigate as to what extent such allegations are correct and to provide remedies as may be required. We in the government feel that many of such grievances would not

State is looking for 20,000 kanals of wasteland in rural areas for creation of industrial estates. arise if the Local Bodies adopt absolutely transparent systems, simplify the procedures, go for complete automation in a time bound manner and create an efficient mechanism of redressal of public grievances. Therefore, the Finance Minister has offered to extend government support including financial help for making visible improvements in these areas. I hope that our local bodies shall respond to this gesture well in time so that IT based better and smoother systems of e-Governance are in place before the Award of the Thirteenth Finance Commission for Urban Local Bodies becomes operative w.e.f. 1st April, 2010.

Growth Rate of Interest Payment on Borrowings during 1997-98 to 2001-02 at 2.28% p.a as compared to 8.75% p.a from 2002 onwards

2002-03 2008-09 Growth Rate 1997-98 2001-02 Growth Rate

Rs. 142.17 crore Rs. 229.26 crore 8.75% p.a Rs. 117.47 crore Rs. 130.88 crore 2.28% p.a

Epilogue Ø 28 × September 2009

Ä Fruit production of state for 2008-09 was 16.91 lakh tones posting an increase of 3.36% over 2007-08 fruit production. Ä During 2008-09, 11.17 lakh tones of fruit were exported outside the state of which 98.57% was of fresh fruits. Foreign exchange earnings on export of dry fruit for 2007-08 were Rs. 161.44 crore. Ä There was 23908 functional SSI units in the State providing employment to around one lakh persons ending March 2009 as against 22937 units ending March 2008. th

Ä As per the 5 Economic Census-2005, there were 324908 establishments in the state as against 41826989 establishments in the country.

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NREGS This important rural employment scheme started in 2005 has been widely welcomed at the national level. The implementation of this scheme in Jammu and Kashmir has potential for further improvement. So far the government have registered 4.98 lakh rural households and employment equivalent to 80 lakh person-days has been generated last year under this scheme for 2 l a k h r u r a l households.

One 1.7 lakh Setting a new trend, the Bank Accounts have been opened so far daily wage of workers so that payments of wages are made under NREG scheme through Banks. A sum of Rs. 87 crore has been utilized during last year. The has been hiked from Rs. government now intends to generate 5 70 to Rs. 110. crore person-days in near future under this Scheme and take the utilization of funds to ten times at the level of Rs 800 crore. Enhancement of the existing wage rate under NREGS from Rs.70 per day to Rs.110 per day has been proposed with immediate effect for which necessary notification shall be issued under the Minimum Wages Act.

Tourism The government is proceeding ahead with its plan to prepare a vision document and a Master Plan for sustainable tourism in the long terms perspective. Offers stand already invited from the prospective consultants for the purpose and the same are under examination by a Committee constituted in this behalf. In the meanwhile, the policy of private Sector investment in all fields of Tourism, including promotion of guest-house facilities, with the government playing the role of promoter and facilitator, shall continue. The Hotel industry has already been given tax relief on hotel tariff.

Tax Management,Modernization J&K has already earned accolades from Empowered Committee of State Finance Ministers for efficient implementation of VAT regime. The successful implementation of this regime depends on gathering of information from other sources and by cross verification of interstate and intrastate transactions. Therefore, complete automation of the Department has been taken in hand at a cost of Rs.20 crore. The major aspect of processing of returns and cross linking

of information of inter and intrastate level are expected to be in place by December, 2009.

To give a push to the long pending complete computerization of treasury accounts in the first phase and all government accounts subsequently in a time bound manner is essential for good governance, the work has been assigned to J&K e-Governance Authority which has initiated similar projects for Transport and Election Departments as well.

Epilogue Ø 29 × September 2009

Ä The number of workers in the establishments was 751532 as compared to 100904121 workers in the country. Ä 19.95% of the

geographical area (Jammu region 45.89%, Kashmir region 50.97% and Ladakh region 0.06%) on this side of the control line is under forest. This ratio for the country is 24.47%.

However, the prescribed ratio of forest area for the Hill states is 67%. Ä While establishments grew at the rate of 6.03% (Jammu and Kashmir) and 4.69% (India) per annum during 1998-2005, the corresponding rate of growth in the employment was 6.85% (Jammu and Kashmir) and 2.78% (India).

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VAT Measures The traders have been confronting a genuine problem of penal action by the authorities for non compliance of rules which were notified much after the date of commencement of the VAT Act in the State. Unfortunately, this problem has not been addressed so far. Obviously, the traders cannot be penalized for violation of rules which did not exist but were later on given retrospective effect. The Finance Minister has announced a scheme of general amnesty for all such cases which shall be notified shortly A m e n d m e n t s : Re g i s t e r i n g authority can demand, at its discretion, additional security from the dealers, on eventualities of the existing dealer adding more commodities to its approved list etc. A representation has been made that no such additional security should be demanded in cases where the existing dealers have been regularly filing their returns and depositing the VAT amount without any default. The demand is rational and if accepted, shall amount to due recognition for

Ä As per the data made law abiding dealers. “I accordingly accept this demand. The rule shall be modified accordingly”, said the FM. Rule 77 dealing with registration of appeals requires that report of assessing authority shall be obtained before proceeding with any appeal. A demand has been made that in case of delay in supplying this information, the appellate authority should proceed without such report, on the basis of information furnished by the appellant. The demand is justified.

H o w e v e r, t h e d e p a r t m e n t o f Commercial Taxes is computerizing its system very soon and all the record shall become available on line. The need to obtain a report from the assessing authority shall automatically vanish. In order to take care of the present concern, the Finance Minister has issued strict instructions to the department that all the assessing authorities must ensure compliance to the requirement of rule 77(a) by submitting the requisite report within 15 days time.

Toll Plaza at Lakhanpur Rs.10 crore fund has been proposed for expansion and modernization of Toll Plaza at Lakhanpur which makes the single point gateway to Jammu and Kashmir. After the construction w o r k s a r e o v e r, a p l a n f o r beautification of entire surrounding area shall be taken up including construction of durable and clean spaces for parking of vehicles to avoid congestion, traffic jam or environmental pollution. These

infrastructural improvements combined with the improvements in the software of the Commercial Ta x e s D e p a r t m e n t a n d E x c i s e Department shall ensure that the ambience of the Toll Plaza shall change from a chaotic, disorderly & congested commercial place into an arena of serenity, calmness and beauty for the commuters to have a few moments of relaxation before proceeding on.

Epilogue Ø 30 × September 2009

available by the Department of CA&PDS, 5.88 Lakh BPL and 3.71 APL families are still without household latrines. By ending December 2008, 93295 individual household latrines have been constructed against the total target of 598614. Ä The sex ratio in the

state as per Census 2001 stood at 892 females per 1000 males.

However, the results of the sex ratio survey conducted by the Directorate of Economics and Statistics in 2007 have shown 925 females per thousand males. These figures are almost similar with the figures of 923 females per thousand males revealed th by 60 round of NSSO Survey conducted during (January to June 2004)

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Vanaspati in Negative List Representations have been made to the Finance Department by Industry asking for scrapping the negative list. It has come to the notice that Vanaspati which is a product of some of the local industrial units cannot be easily distinguished from Vegetable Oil which is also product of some local industrial units. Vegetable Oil is already on the negative list. Besides the situation has changed when Vanaspati was accorded exemption from GST/VAT treating it as a priority industry. Therefore, the production of Vanaspati is placed on the negative list.

Employment Generation Since January 2009, the state subordinate selection board made 8086 selections, PSC made 438 selections and 3835 youth were recruited in Police. During same period 11163 new posts have been created and 5060 referred to PSC. During this very period, 7035 posts have been referred to Police Recruitment Board. Alongwith the previous backlog, the vacancies available with PSC are 4,023. Similarly, the vacancies available with SSSB, alongwith the backlog comes to 10,582. All the recruiting agencies have been advised to expedite the selection process. Therefore, nearly 22,000 more boys & girls can hope to get a government job in the current financial year. Alongwith the appointment or selections already made from January, 2009 onwards, the tally of government jobs in respect of the present government may come to 34,000.

Representations have been made to the Finance Department by Industry asking for scrapping the negative list. It has come to the notice that Vanaspati which is a product of some of the local industrial units cannot be easily distinguished from Vegetable Oil which is also product of some local industrial units. Vegetable Oil is already on the negative list. Besides the situation has changed when Vanaspati was accorded exemption from GST/VAT treating it as a priority industry. Therefore, the production of Vanaspati is placed on the negative list.

In order to adopt a well conceived strategy for alleviating the problem of unemployment in the State, there is a fervent requirement of a sound statistical base. This is more so for the reason that there is a lot of equivocation about the very extent and nature of unemployment in the State.

For this purpose, it has become imperative to build a sound and dependable data base so that plausible remedial measures are adopted.

For operationalizing this arrangement at the ground level, the Government intends to revamp the

Epilogue Ø 31 × September 2009

Ä Ending March 2009,

out of 12015 habitations in J&K state, 8761 habitations have been provided water supply. Ä Out of the estimated

hydro power potential of 20,000 MWs in the State, 16480 MWs have been identified of which only 14 percent of 2318.70 MWs have been exploited sofar. Ä Estimated Birth Rate

of 19.0 per milli, Death Rate of 5.8 per milli and Infant Mortality Rate of 51 per thousand live births was recorded in J&K for 2007 against the all India figures of 23.1, 7.4 and 55 respectively. Ä With the

commissioning of 450 MW Phase-I of Baglihar Hydroelectric Power Project in December 2008, the installed capacity of the state sector power projects has reached 758.70 MWs.

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Employment Exchanges and enhance their role, both quantitatively and qualitatively. They will be renamed as District Employment and Counselling Centres. The District Centres shall develop a reliable statistical base including skill inventory and skill deficiency mapping. The number of such District Employment and Counselling Centres shall be increased

All district employment centers are being renamed as employment and conselling centers. To be relaunched an October 2, they will have skill inventory and skill deficiency mapping to help aspirants find jobs. from 14 to 22 so that all the districts have a well placed institutional arrangement for information generation on the subject. It shall be made mandatory for all the unemployed youth to get themselves registered with the District Employment and Counselling Centre for which the necessary formats shall be prepared by the Department of Economics and Statistics in a digital mode. A notification to this effect with all the relevant details shall be issued by 30th of September, 2009 and the new Centres shall be launched simultaneously in all districts of the State from the 2nd of October, 2009 to coincide with the 140th birth day of Mahatma Gandhi, the Apostle of Peace.

Buildings and other infrastructure for the District Employment and Counselling Centres shall have to be provided for all the districts. The

Finance Minister has proposed to make a beginning with two districts in the current year-one in Kashmir and one in Jammu division.

Concurrently, the Government intends to put in place a well conceived 'State Policy on Employment' to address all issues relating to the problem of unemployment in the State. The Planning and Development Department has been directed to initiate the process and the policy document, “I am confident, shall be ready to be launched on the 5th December, 2009, the 105th birthday of the great visionary of our State, Janab Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah Sahib”. The document shall serve as a road map ahead and I solicit valuable suggestions from the Hon'ble members of this august House in arriving at a well considered policy initiative. “I propose to name this initiative as the Sher-eKashmir Employment and Welfare Programme for the Youth (SKEWPY)”, said the Finance Minister.

In the recent past (February, 2009) a number of initiatives have been undertaken at the national level to enhance the skill endowment base in the country. Jammu and Kashmir State while taking its share has to create about 50 lakh skilled persons by 2022 with emphasis on exclusivity. The average annual target works out to be 3.85 lakhs which indeed is a huge task. In order to address ourselves to this challenge, the Government intends to form u l a t e ' S t a t e Po l i c y o n S k i l l Development' with an objective to create 'workforce empowered with improved skills, knowledge and internationally recognized qualifications to gain access to decent employment'. At the operational level the Government commits itself to initiate and expedite the process of establishing 22 district level 'Rural Self Employment Training

Epilogue Ø 32 × September 2009

Ä The installed capacity

of Central Sector power projects from three commissioned projects is 1560 MWs. The demand of Power in J&K state for 200809, as per the 16th Power Survey conducted

by Ministry of Energy, GoI is around 2120 Mws. Ä Against the total road

length of 18809 kms maintained by State R&B Department, 9559 kms are black topped, 4832 kms metalled, 1315 kms shingled, 3000 kms fair weather and 102 kms jeepable making the road density to be 18.55 km per 100 Sq km of are ending 03/2009. Ä The revenue realization

of Rs. 737.83 crore under Power Sector during 2008-09 has increased by 6.43% as compared to the revenue realization of Rs. 693.24 crore for 200708.

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Institutes (RSETIs)' in cooperation with the Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India and Public/Private Sector Banks. This institutional arrangement shall be in place by the end of the current financial year.

The geo-climatic extremities in the State cause a high incidence of seasonal unemployment particularly in the countryside snowballing into outmigration of labour force. In order to address this phenomenon and ensure livelihood security to the rural people, Government intends to strengthen the premier Wage Employment Scheme under 'National Rural Employment Guarantee Act' by extending its scope and enhancing wages. For this purpose 'State Employment Guarantee Council' has been advised to take up the matter with the Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India for extending the scope of the scheme by incorporating relevant activities in the list of already available 'Permissible Works'.

Conventionally, government has been perceived as the sole employer and remedy has unfortunately been invented in over-sizing the administrative machinery. Even when this convenient option has been over exhausted, the problem of unemployment has actually proliferated. This conventional approach has, in fact, proved counter productive. This mindset needs to be changed and new entrants to the labour market motivated to adopt self

As a part of national mission, J&K is required to create 50 lakh skilled persons by 2022. The average annual target is 3.85 lakhs.

employment ventures. A host of Central Schemes presently in place for the promotion of self employment ought to be amplified with innovative self employment projects under various sectors.

The Government proposes to emphasize on mass awareness programmes to apprise youth of the State about the bright prospects in self employment privileges through J&K Entrepreneurship Development Institute.

It should be borne in mind that all the centrally sponsored self employment schemes are credit linked and the financial institutions generally seem reluctant to extend credit facility to the first generation entrepreneurs in view of their risk perception. This has negative implications on the development of entrepreneurship.

Such an equivocation warrants an immediate State intervention to ensure that the motivated and trained prospective entrants to the field of entrepreneurship/self employment are nurtured and insulated from frustration and mental agony. To address this problem, the State Entrepreneurship Development Institute (JKEDI) is being asked to offer 'Entrepreneurship Development Programme/s (EDPs)' as a package which apart from sensitization, training and consultancy inputs shall include an incentive in the form of non-refundable Seed Money to enable prospective entrepreneurs to kick start their ventures and make their projects bankable. For this purpose, government intends to create an 'Entrepreneurship Development Fund' with an initial corpus of Rs.25 crore.

The corpus shall be utilized under a well conceived State Scheme for the prospective motivated, trained and provisionally registered first generation entrepreneurs to start their ventures relating to the core areas

Epilogue Ø 33 × September 2009

Ä As against the national

level road density of 104.6 kms per 100 sq.kms of area, the state has 18.12 kms per 100 sq. kms with 24.37 kms for Jammu division and 15.93 for Kashmir division for 2007-08.

The lowest road density is in the districts of Leh, Kargil, Doda (erstwhile) and Rajouri with 3.33 Kms, 6.84 kms, 7.77 kms and 16.31 kms respectively per 100 sq. km of area (The state road density is for roads maintained

by PWD only) Ä The number of

registered vehicles in March 2009 stood at 668427 as compared to 299104 numbers of registered vehicles in March 2000. The number of vehicles available per lakh of population in the state stood at 5342 (March 2009) as against the figure of 6739 at all India level of March 2004.

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Ä The total BPL

An estimated 5600 employees of J&K Government are working either on contractual, Adhoc or on consolidated salary bases.

Government has decided to regularize these who have rendered seven years of service and are educationally eligible for the posts. which inter-alia include agriculture, horticulture, floriculture, medicinal and aromatic plant cultivation and food processing. This scheme too shall be launched on 5th December,2009.

The Government intends to build complete synergy in different Self Employment Schemes presently in vogue and ensure that the first generation entrepreneurs are actually benefited by these Schemes.

Reference, in this regard may be made to the initiatives already taken by the national Minorities Development & Finance Corporation (NMDFC), a Government of India undertaking under the Ministry of Minority affairs which

provides loan/credit facilities to the first generation entrepreneurs belonging to the minorities on very low (3-6 per cent ) interest rates. The said Corporation has, for the purpose, nominated Jammu and Kashmir Women Development Corporation (JKWDC) and Jammu and Kashmir Scheduled castes/Scheduled Tribes (J&K SC/ST) Corporation as the Channelizing Agencies in the State. However, the latter has not been able to lift any money from NMDFC for the last five years limiting the opportunities available for the prospective entrepreneurs. In order therefore to ensure that the benefits actually reach

Epilogue Ø 34 × September 2009

estimated population ratio of J&K has arrived at 21.63% (24.21 lakh persons) with a dispersion of 26.14% (22.00 lakh persons) for rural areas and 7.96% (2.21 lakh persons) for urban areas as per the survey conducted in 2008 by the Directorate of Economics and Statistics. Poverty ratio at all India level for the year 2004-05 was found to be 27.50% with 28.30% in Rural and 25.70% in Urban areas as per NSSO Survey. Ä On the basis of BPL

Head Count Ratio, the seven poorest districts in the State are Reasi, Ramban, Kishtwar, Poonch, Kupwara, Kargil and Bandipora which have more than 30 percent estimated BPL population ranging between 31.09 percent to 37.93 percent.

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the identified clientele group, the Government proposes to nominate JK EDI an additional State Channelizing Agency of NMDFC for providing loans/credit facility to the entrepreneurs motivated, trained and promoted by the Institute.

The Government proposes to revamp the Employment Department and place it under an Employment Facilitating Agency which shall be created and placed under the charge of a very senior officer. The officers shall be hand-picked to take-up the challenge at the district, divisional and state level and deliver with a missionary zeal. There will be a system of award and punishment for good and bad performance of officers.

An Overseas Employment Corporation shall be created to liaise with the placement agencies, foreign embassies, Ministry of Labour and Department of Overseas Employment etc. The proposed Corporation shall create a knowledge bank for aspirers of overseas employment, particularly on matters of legal requirements for migration, work environment in various foreign lands, mandatory formalities and formats etc. The proposed Corporation shall also handle matters of employment opportunities within the Country. We hope that its role shall grow further after global recession starts receding.

The proposed Employment Facilitating Agency shall have a Governing Body headed by the Chief Secretary to deal with all matters connected with employment of youth.

It will also oversee the functioning of all Employment related organizations and monitor progress of implementation of all employment schemes and programmes. The Agency shall also identify and create opportunities of employment in sectors like Tourism,

Horticulture, Floriculture, Fisheries, Health and Sericulture etc where skills rather than education are in greater demand.

Training of youth who may not be highly qualified but would be suitable for jobs in these sectors, shall be organized by the proposed Agency. All the trainees shall be provided suitable stipend during the period of training.

The Agency shall facilitate setting up of Polyclinics and Consultancies by un-employed and retired doctors and engineers. The government and the financing institutions shall provide package of assistance and loans in a manner similar to that available for industrial units, suitably modified to meet specific requirements of such polyclinics and consultancies.

Lot of potential exist for meaningful utilization of knowledge, skill and talent of our educated unemployed youth under NREGS. Last year 350 persons were engaged as supporting staff to work as Computer Operators, Accounts Assistants, Technical Assistants, Rozgar Sevikas as well as Block level Programme Officers.

With the targeted increase in persondays of employment taking it to 5 crore, we shall be generating potential for absorption of nearly 3000 persons in such jobs.

The government also proposes to simultaneously adopt a pro active approach for creating service related self employment units which may be utilized to meet the requirements of government departments to start with.

Some of the areas coming to mind immediately are plumbing, electricals, repairing of motors, gadgets, electronic items etc which are in demand in most of government offices.

The service units promoted by technically trained and qualified youth can be recognized to provide such

Epilogue Ø 35 × September 2009

Ä The BPL Survey

conducted by the Directorate of Economics and Statistics in 2008 reveal that the highest percentage of Urban poverty is in district Kulgam with 15.83% followed by district Pulwama with 14% and district Ganderbal with 13.87%. Ä The government has

ordered for reverification of BPL lists maintained by the various departments in the State. The Deputy Commissioners and Tehsildars have been appointed as Nodal authorities for carrying out the reverification with their respective jurisdictions. The report has to be submitted to the State Planning and Development Department within three months from the date of the issue of the order i.e. 25-06-2009.

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services to government departments on charges per visit basis, actual cost of replaced parts plus wages at notified rates. It is hoped that in due course of time, private sector and the general population shall come forward to utilize their services. The requisite support for setting up of such service units as also a transitional support mechanism for sustaining them during the initial years shall be worked out by the government very soon.

A large number of contractual, a d h oc a n d c on soli d a te d - sa la ry appointments have been made in various

government departments against clear vacancies. Their present number is reported as 5,656. These appointees have been continuing in service for considerably long time. As per the latest Apex Court rulings available on this subject, a one time regularization of service can be resorted to by the government to deal with such situations.

The government has accordingly decided to regularize all such persons who have already completed 7 years of service and who are academically qualified to hold their respective jobs as prescribed under rules.

Gender Care The society which does not take care of its women folk starts degrading. Amongst various welfare measures which the government intends to initiate for socio economic upliftment of women, a special scheme has been devised for their economic empowerment. Under this scheme, 100 women entrepreneurs shall be selected from each district taking the total to 2,200 in the first phase. They will be granted direct loans upto Rs.3 lakh at a very low rate of 6% interest through the State Women Development Corporation. The scope of the scheme shall be later extended to tehsil level. For this purpose, the government shall provide a revolving fund of Rs.10 crore to the State Women Development Corporation, in suitable installments depending upon the progress of the proposed scheme. The State Women Development Corporation shall be advised to ensure the techno economic viability and profitability of the enterprises and develop a scientific monitoring mechanism for timely interventions to ensure success of the assisted units. The fields identified for this purpose include health care and pharmaceuticals; restaurants, computers and information technology, agro based industries, floriculture, cosmetics, perfumery and parlors; hosiery, ceramics, tailoring, leather and food products etc.

Agri Technos To Get More If They Work Nearly 3300 agricultural graduates have been engaged as Rehbar-e-Zirat.

However, it is learnt that the services of this technical human resource have not been properly utilized. One of the factors responsible for this is the reluctance of the appointees to move to the field on one pretext or the other. In order to meaningfully utilize the services of the Rehbar-e-Zirats, I offer an additional

incentive of Rs.1500 per month payable through the DRDA or Panchayat, to such of the Rehbar-e-Zirats who would move down to the panchayat level and work in the field alongside the farmers, to serve as a meaningful link between them and the concerned departments for popularizing, implementing and monitoring the progress of various agricultural related schemes.

Epilogue Ø 36 × September 2009

Ä Unemployment rate in

respect of J&K State, has been worked out to be 5.2% (5.4% for males and 3.5% for females) which is on higher side when compared to All India figures of 3.1% (3.1% for males and 3.0% for females) as per Usual Principal Status as per findings of 62nd round of NSS (July 2005June 2006) report. Ä In J&K inflation rate

on all the series i.e.

Consumer Index of Industrial Workers, Agricultural Labourers and Rural Labourers was less as compared to relative rate of inflation in the country during 2008-09 Ä Aggregate Technical and

Commercial (AT&C) losses in power are very high in the state and have been put around 72%.

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Inclusive Development The over all allocation of the social welfare schemes is proposed to be increased to Rs.138 crore in comparison to Rs.110 crore provided last year. Amounts available from the Centre shall be over and above this figure. Special provisions have been made in the budget for development of Gujjar and Bakerwals, Schedule Castes and Schedule Tribes, Women and Child Welfare. An allocation of Rs.20.77 crore has been proposed under Tribal Sub Plan. The allocations for the two autonomous Hill Development Councils in Ladakh shall be given due step up alongwith other district plans which are being finalized shortly.

National Rural Health Mission is a mega national effort at ensuring healthcare through a range of interventions at individual, household, community and most critically at the health system levels. The Central Government is using it as an essential instrument for achieving its goal of health care in the rural landscape.

Under NRHM, the Central Government provides 85% of the financial assistance leaving 15% to be raised from out of the State's own resources.

State Government is committed to make the most of the financial handholding provided by the Central Government under NRHM and supplement its health effort in the rural areas. In order to provide better health care for our rural population and

enhance availability of doctors and other paramedical persons in far-off areas of state, the State Government has decided to enhance the wages of the doctors and paramedics working in these far off areas. This will attract qualified medical talent in rural areas with adequate incentives. The doctors employed in NRHM presently get wage of Rs.8000 per month. Their monthly wage would be enhanced to Rs.16000.

The paramedics under NRHM are presently employed on monthly wage of Rs.4000 They would now get a monthly wage of Rs.9000.

State Government has also concurrently decided to sanction special incentive for the doctors serving in remote and far flung areas popularly known as difficult areas. For this purpose, the difficult areas would be classified into two categoriescategory-A (denoting more difficult areas) and category B (denoting difficult areas). The doctors serving in Category-A areas would get additional Rs. 8000 as special incentive while as those serving in Category-B areas would get additional Rs.4000. This financial dispensation will surely attract more and more qualified medics to serve in rural areas and lead to tangible improvement in a rural healthcare system. The aggregate financial implication involved in the provision of the above financial dispensation would be of the order of Rs.4.30 crore per annum.

Ä The number of registered

illiterate unemployed youths has increased to 4167 in 2008 from 4030 during 2007, thereby showing an increase of 3.40 percent in the state.

The number of educated unemployed had increased to 89796 in 2008 from 82619 during 2007 showing an increase of 8.69 percent Ä FM proposed an

employment cess of Rs 1 per litre on diesel. The current level of consumption of this commodity is about 46 crore litres per annum.

Therefore, the proposed measure is likely to yield annual revenue of Rs 46 crore per annum and additional revenue of Rs 30 crore in the current financial year.

Rehabilitation of Kashmiri Pandit migrants Rehabilitation of our Kashmiri Pandit brothers and sisters and bringing them back to the social mosaic of Kashmir continues to be of prime importance for the coalition government. That would be like a dream fulfilled for all of us. The package of 15000 jobs in the State and private sector has been approved for them. Kashmiri Pandits who have been leading the life as migrants in various parts of Jammu Division have been facing many hardships even though the government has taken various initiatives to ameliorate their conditions from time to time. One of such hardship is the medical care needed in critical illness cases. The registered migrants whose family heads are in State Government employment, are eligible to benefits under the medical scheme applicable

Epilogue Ø 37 × September 2009

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to the state government employees. Those not falling in this category have been hard pressed for want of any comprehensive, regular and satisfactory mechanism. For such category of registered migrants, who are in receipt of cash relief, announce 50% grant from the government subject to a ceiling of Rs.5000 per family, for meeting cost of premium for a year, if they enlist themselves under the mediclaim policy of any recognized Insurer. The exact requirement for such financial assistance shall be assessed in due course of time. To start with, I announce a budgetary allocation of Rs.10 crore for this purpose. A budgetary allocation of Rs. 130 crore for construction/completion of 5242 tenements for Kashmiri migrants under the Prime Ministers Reconstruction Plan has been proposed so that the difficulties faced by the families of our brothers in distress are mitigated at the earliest possible. A sum of Rs. 3 crore is being additionally allocated to complete the road to village Jagti near Nagrota where new tenements are under constructions.

Awards for Innovation The government is extremely keen that the state as well as private sector join hands in discovering hidden talent of our society engaged in solving local problems without any outside help. It will not only encourage creativity and innovations but will also generate tremendous economic activity and increase our productivity. The Finance Minister has proposed to institute an award to recognize five best innovations every year in identified fields with a prize of Rs. one lakh each. The state will also take every possible step to get these innovations patented and popularized for the common benefit of the Society.

Rehabilitation of Victims of Militancy The militancy of last two decades has deprived a large number of families of their bread earners. Rehabilitation of widows and orphans is a big challenge. The government has provided 825 jobs during the last 6 months to a member of the effected family wherever feasible. To take care of the cases where cash relief of Rs. 4 lakh in lieu of a job has been preferred, about Rs.50 crore have been spent so far to rehabilitate 1233 families.

Employees and Pensioners All our development programmes and regulatory functions are being preformed by the government employees and, as such, their welfare too is a legitimate concern of the government. Against serious constraints on our resources, the government has announced adoption of the pay scales recommended by the Sixth Central Pay Commission retrospectively from Ist January, 2006. We have also authorised them drawal of enhanced pay of July,

2009 in the new pay scales. Sanction of DA in the new pay bands has also been agreed in principle and the rates of DA effective from various dates starting from 1.1.2006 have already been announced. I further announce increase in the rate of DA w.e.f. 1st.

January,2009 to 22%. The increased amount of DA at 22% shall be paid in cash from the first of July,2009.

Temporary Move Allowance was fixed at Rs.550 PM a few years back for

Epilogue Ă˜ 38 Ă— September 2009

the moving employees. A demand has been made to the government by our lower grade employees to increase the same. I find the demand is genuine. I announce a new rate of temporary Move Allowance at Rs.650 PM which shall be effective from August, 2009. This measure will involve additional expenditure of about Rs.50 lakh per annum.

116. Serious misgivings appear to have unnecessarily arisen on account of

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payment of arrears of pay and pension revision and implementation of the Sixth Central Pay Commission Award. As the Hon'ble members already know, the requirement on this account is over Rs.4000 crore. The demand for allocation of this amount has been already projected to the Thirteenth Finance Commission who have to take a view on this demand, for all States, before finalizing their Award. If this amount is made available in one go, I would be the happiest person to release 100% arrears in cash. I appeal to the good sense of State government employees to maintain their patience on this issue for a little more time till the picture become clear with the Thirteenth Finance Commission Award.

New Pension Scheme One of the causes of growing concern in budgetary management lies in the ever increasing expenditure on disbursement of pensions in respect of government as well as autonomous bodies, statutory organizations operating on the Grant-in-aid of the government. The annual increase on this expenditure is not within the control of the government. Unlike gradual increase in the salary bills, usually on account of increase in DA rates and normal annual increments in basic pay, the increase in pension bills takes place simultaneously on account

of increase DA rates as well as post retirement benefits payable at the time of superannuation. Keeping in view the exponential rate of growth in annual pensionary outgo, it is not difficult to see that an off budget solution to the problem is essential as after some years, may be a couple of decades, it will become absolutely impossible to meet such expenditure out of budgetary provisions. As this is a universal phenomena, the matter has been discussed time and again at national level with a view to protect the posterity from a financial calamity on

this account. The Central Government and several states have introduced a New Pension Scheme where under, the government as employer and the concerned employees make monthly contributions to a pension fund. The incidence of payment of pensions will get shifted to this pension fund. The scheme becomes mandatory for all new recruits after it is notified. The new pension scheme can be created under a proper statute. I propose to bring a bill before this House accordingly so as to enforce the New Pension Scheme from 1st January, 2010.

Legislators get more to spend There has been a long pending demand from Hon'ble Members of the Legislature increasing Constituency Development Fund from the existing level of Rs. 35 lakh with the approval of Hon'ble Chief Minister, I announce increase in Constituency Development Fund from existing level of Rs.35 lakh to Rs.50 lakh. Modified guidelines in this connection shall be issued very soon.

Epilogue Ă˜ 39 Ă— September 2009

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NEW TAXES

The misunderstood mothers-in-law

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nnouncement of taxes always sounds harsh. The Finance Minister, however, had a collection of sayings to soothe the effect. He said, “I am reminded of several quotes about taxation. One of them says that, “taxes, like Mothers-in- law, are often misunderstood”. The other quote says “taxes are your contribution for living in a civilized society”. Be that as it may, no budgetary exercise can be completed without resorting to some taxation measures. However, with a few exceptions in mind, I do not intend to indulge in any substantial tax revenue raising venture for the time being”. The proposed taxation measures are expected to yield additional revenue of Rs.69 crore in the current year. An ARM, figure of Rs.100 crore has been kept in the budgetary document. “I propose to attain this target by making improvements in recovery of arrears or by improved collection of current dues”, said the Finance Minister.

Petrol

Diesel

Liquor

Petrol is a commodity which is used generally by economically better off people in our society.

The rate of tax on this commodity in our state is 20% with a cess of Rs.1 per litre which was fixed many years ago. The rate of taxation on this item in respect of some states goes as high as 35%. The current level of consumption in our State is over 14 crore litres. I propose to increase the cess to Rs. 3 per litre and name it as employment cess. I am sure this increase is not likely to burn a hole in the pockets of those who are consuming this commodity.

This measure is likely to yield additional revenue of Rs.28 crore per annum and about Rs.18 crore in the current financial year.

Similarly, the rate of tax on diesel is 12% in our State some of the other states have gone to the extent of charging more than 20% tax on this commodity. I am conscious of the fact that this item involves a larger number of persons from the public who could be directly and indirectly affected by any increase in the rate of taxation. There is no cess on diesel. I propose to charge an employment cess of only Re. 1 per litre on diesel, which will make a marginal difference in the cost of services being made available to the beneficiaries who would be ultimately bearing the incidence of the proposed measure. The current level of consumption of this commodity is about 46 crore litres per annum. Therefore, the proposed measure is likely yield annual revenue of Rs.46 crore per annum and additional revenue of Rs. 30 crore in the current financial year.

Liquor is an area which automatically comes to mind both on account of the principles of State policy enshrined in the constitution as well as a measure to raise additional revenue. The rate of GST on liquor is currently 20%. I propose to increase the same to 25%. I will be happy in case the consumption of liquor goes down somewhat because of my proposed measure.

However, it is more likely that lovers of this commodity may take the proposed measure sportingly and willingly contribute a little more to the state exchequer. As such, estimates of expected additional revenue on this account are placed at Rs.21.50 crore per annum and Rs.15 crore in the current financial years.

Poultry Nearly 1.32 crore poultry table birds are being brought from outside the state annually. They are subjected to a toll tax at Lakhanpur @ Rs.2 per bird. If the poultry bird is reared within the state, many people shall get employed in poultry farms under self employment programme and also in cooperative sector. As adequate numbers of day old chicks are not available within the state, the poultry rearing units are also importing around 2.38 crore day old chicks which are again subjected to toll tax at Lakhnapur @ Rs.1 per chick. I have already explained that the government intends to support local production of eggs, day old chicks and poultry. As a part of the strategy, I propose to exempt import of day old chicks from payment of toll tax and increase the rate of toll tax on poultry birds from existing Rs.2 per bird to Rs.5 per kg. The net additional revenue on this account is expected to be around Rs.4 crore per annum which will be utilized for development of poultry sector within the state.

Epilogue Ø 40 × September 2009

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“

All of us who are present in this August House shall be no doubt having a vision of their own about the future of Jammu And Kashmir State. I too have a vision of an ideal society which will consist of magnificent human beings who are equal to the glory of this beautiful land,…… who will be filled with spiritual endowment and in which the skilled and the intelligent citizens will earn their livelihood by honest means. Whatever be the way to describe our individual vision, the fact remains that the socioeconomic and spiritual upliftment of all men and women, belonging to all castes, creeds, religions and regions is our common goal. We can jointly turn our vision into reality by pulling our heads together, plan for the welfare of the people objectively and implement all the agreed programmes in a transparent, unbiased and judicious manner in due regard to economy in cost, speed in time and optimizing the peoples' satisfaction as our ultimate and joint goal. All of us have to work in that spirit. Today we have a golden opportunity to prove that given the financial resources, we are collectively capable of delivering and turn our state into a model state during the coming years.

This golden opportunity should never, never be lost.

“

- ABDUL RAHIM RATHER, Finance Minister EXCERPTED FROM FINANCE MINISTER’S BUDGET SPEECH suneerbhat@gmail.com

Epilogue Ø 41 × September 2009

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Budget 2009-10 INTERVIEW

'There are no quick fixes; we are working on a workable employment policy’ Soon after presenting annual budget for 200910, Finance Minister ABDUL RAHIM RATHER tells AHMED ALI FAYYAZ that unemployment problem is being addressed in a practical manner.

Excerpts of an interview:

JULY 2009

Between 2002 and 2008 you remained a most vocal critic of your predecessors, how your budget is different from their? You have shown a deficit of some Rs 2600 Crore while in last six years we have seen as many budgets with Zero Deficit.

Yes, it is fact that I had serious reservations about budget proposals my predecessors but that criticism was always healthy and based on facts and figures provided by the previous government itself. My main challenge was to their Zero Deficit budget. The documents presented by the government clearly reflected shortfalls

Epilogue Ø 42 × September 2009

but they (Finance Ministers) fudged the figures to show their budgets with Zero Deficit. Besides a slew of differences, the key feature of my budget is that clearly shows the financial position as it exists. We have a deficit of Rs 2600 Crore and this is clearly reflected.

The previous government set a precedence of presenting separate budget for Power Department and it continued for three years. You have reversed the case. Any strong reasons?

In fact there was no reason at all for presenting separate budget for Power Department. See, Power is just one of

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the various departments like Health, Education etc. Do we have separate budgets for all departments? The argument of my predecessors was based on the premise that separate power budget shall streamline the financial management. But that was a gimmick (though I should not say like this). The fort falls, in any case, remained.

You changed the Economic Advisor to Government. Was that done to make a difference?

We didn't remove the Economic Advisor (Dr Haseeb Drabu, also Chairman of J&K Bank). He resigned and we accepted the resignation.

But you did not ask him to stay Why should we. If somebody does not want to work we can't force him to work.

Levying small taxes here and there is not going to make a big difference.

Your party (National Conference) was quite clear and explicit in making a promise on employment during your election campaign. Your election manifesto also outlines definite measures. How far have you been able to go in fulfilling this promise?

Unemployment is a serious problem in Jammu and Kashmir. People look towards the government as their natural employer. I don't say that government should not employ more people but at the same time we should be aware of the ground

realities. We are already largest employer among all states in the country. Take, for example, the case of Gujarat. They have a population of 5 Crore and total strength of government employees there is 4 lakh. In Jammu and Kashmir we have a population of little over 1 Crore and number of our government employees is more than 5 lakh.

We are already working on creating employment avenues and will continue to do more. In our short span of over six months, more than 12,000 recruitments have already been made and towards the end of this year the number will go up to around 35,000. But these measures will not help for long. We have proposed innovative measures. The most important thing is to have a reliable database of the kind of skilled and unskilled workforce available so that a policy can be formulated keeping in view demandsupply in different sectors for facilitating employment of these youths in state, country and beyond.

We are also planning to gather details on the nature of job market. We are creating an employment fund to train the unemployed youth for enhancing their employability. Other measures include exploring self employment avenues. However, I can assure on this occasion that in next couple of years we will be in a position to address the unemployment problem to a large extent.

You had also talked about stipend and allowances to unemployed youth.

What about that?

We never made such commitment but let me tell you that is not any solution.

Epilogue Ă˜ 43 Ă— September 2009

Here is an example. The previous government engaged more than 3000 unemployed agriculture technocrats at Rs 1500 per month without any actual requirement on the ground. These youths did not have any work to do for months and now they are asking for regularization. How can we do that without provisions and requirement?

Well, I have proposed in my budget speech to enhance their honorarium by another Rs 1500 if they associate themselves with the field work.

Look at the level of injustice. You have enhanced the daily wages of NREGS workers from Rs 70 to 110 per day, which means a labourer takes home Rs 3300 a month but a post-graduate in Agriculture or Horticulture is getting Rs 1500 a month? These youths have expectations to the government. They say Chief Minister is of their age and he can understand their problems.

You can't undermine the efforts of NREGS workers, they participate in nation building. At the same time we are seized of the plight of unemployment technocrats but the government can't go beyond a point in offering white collar employment. Our resources are limited. We are heavily dependent on central funding. Our present resources are not beyond Rs 4300 Crore (total tax and non-tax revenue for current fiscal) and the present salary and pension bill is around Rs 8800 Crore.

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Year After Land Row Jammu & Kashmir

A Year After Amarnath Land Row EPILOGUE CORRESPONDENT

These days last year, Jammu and Kashmir was caught in worst crises of 50 years. In the months of June, July and August, the State appeared close to a collapse under troika of separatist, communal and regional politics. Under the garb of regional sentiments, communal passions were touching an all time high and both regions –Kashmir and Jammu –were pitted against each other in a ball game of hatred.

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ever since 1947 was Kashmir seen so far from Delhi and Jammu so disconnected from Kashmir. Politics, and unfortunately Press too, had drawn clear lines on basis of regions and religion was an obvious undercurrent. The voices of sanity had been completely taken over by the dominant discourse of animosity so much so that Prime Minister of India Dr Manmohan Singh said, “I am deeply pained over the situation”.

India utilized most of its energies over past several decades to prevent an international reference to the Kashmir issue as Pakistan would always lobby for such comments. The summer fire of 2008, however, left the mandarins in New Delhi perturbed when a spokesman of the United Nations said, “we are watching over the situation in Jammu and Kashmir with deep concern”. An allparty panel constituted by the Prime Minister, comprising of leading political figures of country, failed to break the ice as the element of religion, the core driving force behind Amarnath land row agitation, had spread its message across the country and the election bound ruling Congress (and its allies) and opposition BJP (and its allies) saw the issue as a major spoiler or leverage,

respectively, for upcoming campaign.

A year after three month long agitation, thousands of those who stayed put on the streets day and night pumping their lungs out in slogans have questions for their leaders. Did they really achieve what they fought for?

Unfortunately, no one is ready to answer any of these questions. In fact no one is in a position to handle these questions. The coalitions of leaders have broken down. You approach one leader and he will direct you to the other. Moving round and around, the conclusion is, “the issue is over and so is our role”.

In Kashmir the game was played well but it was lost with an equal ease.

Towards the middle of August, when lakhs took part in a symbolic march towards Muzaffarabad capital of Pakistan administered Kashmir, many felt that Azadi was just few days away. A ringside view would show that India had been completely wiped out from Kashmir's 'national' map. The only visible symbols of India left in the Valley those days were the security forces and currency notes. The Indian intelligentsia and even the policymakers admitted that game in Kashmir had been lost. Two months

Epilogue Ø 44 × September 2009

later, to the surprise of all, not only the summer agitation was nullified by a huge public participation in state assembly elections but questions also cropped up on two-decade long of separatist politics when many from the separatist camps crossed over the fence to either contest elections or campaign for their favourite candidates. If New Delhi is dilly-dallying in resuming dialogue with Kashmiri separatists, the answers for this question have to be sought from Kashmir and not New Delhi.

An article later in this section (Kashmir's democratic catharsis) explains the dramatic turnaround in the Valley of Kashmir.

However, in Jammu, a year after Amarnath agitation, disillusionment and disappointment is much deeper.

Jammu's complaint of playing second fiddle to Kashmir has been there for last 60 years now. It was on this pretext that hundreds and thousands of people were mobilized to agitate and oppose a decision (withdrawal of ownership of land to Amarnath shrine board) of the government under pressure from Kashmir's political class.

Exactly the way a common Kashmiri foresaw Azadi just few days away, the common perception in Jammu was

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that agitation will settle down the issues of regional discrimination lingering on since 1947. On the midnight of August 30-31 2008, when Shri Amarnath Yatra Sangharsh Samiti –a ragtag coalition of over 70 small and big organizations –headed by its convener Leela Karan Sharma, a Jammu based lawyer, inked an agreement with a four-member panel of the state government, next

Jammu are again talking about regional discrimination and the latest issue is about location of Central University. While the Shri Amarnath Yatra Sangharsh Samiti, which described itself as a historical popular movement of entire Jammu province is in oblivion, the grouping stands torn apart and its then convener Leela Karan Sharma, who would proudly call himself as Gandhi

EPILOGUE, JULY, 2008

they are now being led by the peoples in whichever direction they seek to pull them. The loss in Jammu has been much more serious which needs good deal of time and sustained efforts to repair.

Jammu had a unique culture of unity in diversity which was completely divided on the religious and sub-regional lines by the agitation without gaining anything substantial except for the restoral of land to the temple trust, that too on temporary basis.

Jammu, July 2008

morning the people in Jammu hit streets dancing to the beats of drums. It was a victory celebration.

But victory over what? People were told that the struggle is for the political rights of entire Jammu province but the agitation was called off only on the issue of so called restoration of land to the temple trust. A year later, the issues of discrimination are exactly the same as they were decades back. People in

of Jammu, says “my inning is over”.

The cumulative loss to the business and economy during three months of agitation in Kashmir and Jammu has been officially put at around Rs 20,000 Crores and the loss of life was not less than 80. As an observer puts it as mass public hysteria, aftermath of the agitation of 2008 pushed the separatist leadership of Kashmir to the wall so much so that the leaders are no more in a position to lead the people and in fact

Epilogue Ø 45 × September 2009

EPILOGUE, SEPTEMBER, 2008

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Year After Land Row

Recalling Gandhi of Jammu

During the July-August 2008 agitation in Jammu, some youth asked a commuter in Jammu after smashing window panes of his car “if Leela Karan can walk on foot to oversee complete shutdown why can't you leave your car home”. This scene was widely televised on the local cable9 based channels to personify Leela Karan Sharma, the convener of Shri Amarnath Yatra Sangharsh Samiti (SAYSS), as modern day Gandhi of Jammu.

What does Leela Karan do these days, many are not aware of. The SAYSS –a coalition of 72 organisations –he floated to agitate on the Amarnath land transfer issue is now in tatters. He had espoused the cause of alleged regional discrimination against Jammu. A year after Amarnath land row agitation, Jammu, simmering with discontent, is again in the agitation mode but neither Leela Karan nor his SAYSS is anywhere in picture. In an exclusive interview to EPILOGUE, Leela Karan admits that he has been isolated by the leaders with vested interests. Here are excerpts:

What motivated you to launch a mass agitation in June 2008 and what were the factors that helped you to sustain the stir for so long?

I can recall when allotment of a piece of forest land to Shri Amarnath Shrine Board was made by the government; I was in Srinagar on a holiday. In a matter of days I saw people in hundreds and thousands spilling over the streets in Kashmir calling for revocation of the land transfer order.

They carried green flags, denoting their sentimental inclination towards Pakistan and raised slogans against India. I watched situation keenly and

Epilogue Ø 46 × September 2009

realized that the government of the day will soon succumb to the pressure and revoke the land transfer order. The immediate motivation in mind was a question: “is it so simple in Kashmir to brandish Pakistan flags and slogan against India to send the government packing?” I rushed back to Jammu and shared my perception with friends and other like-minded persons. I told them that revocation of land appeared nearly imminent and we should be prepared for a counter-agitation to show the Kashmiris that we simply won't allow that to happen. Our apprehensions proved true. Government announced it

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decision to revoke the land allotment order and within hours we announced our schedule of agitation.

Once the agitation was announced then it was purely the divide blessings of Lord Shiva that the force multiplied and people joined in unprecedented manner to sustain the stir for over two months. My role was then limited to just giving directions and reviewing progress on daily basis. It was basically the pent up anger of the people of Jammu region against Kashmiri leadership which drew elders, women and even children out of their homes to struggle for their rights.

'Yes I am in isolation'

Leela Karan Sharma

What rights?

Several times during agitation you said that it was a struggle for the rights of the people of entire Jammu region.

But at the same time your agenda entirely veered around religion.

See, religions (temple trust land transfer issue) was a trigger. The larger issue was, of course, discrimination against Jammu region.

Please explain this logic.

It is very simple to understand. Every decision is taken by the State

Epilogue Ă˜ 47 Ă— September 2009

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and Central Governments at behest of Kashmir centric political leadership and keeping in view the sentiments of Kashmiris. People in Jammu are taken completely far granted and it was a manifestation of this tendency that after a brief protest in Kashmir, the government of the day succumbed and rolled back the land allotment order.

We have had enough of such discriminatory decisions and this time we decided to resist.

Ok. What you got from the government (two-month temporary use of land purely for pilgrimage days) was something offered to you at the very outset of agitation. What did the two-month long agitation achieve? Please see this question in the larger context of what you call as collective rights of the people of Jammu region.

Well (after a long pause), our core issue was the protest against interference in our religious affairs which we got settled down. Other issues constitute a continuous process and it is long way to achieve justice for Jammu region. However, the major achievement (besides temple land issue) was that we were successful in internationalizing the cause of Jammu.

Internationalizing the cause of Jammu? Please elaborate.

In the Indian and international context Jammu and Kashmir is debated and discussed only for 'Kashmir'. Jammu has its own history, culture and issue which were never taken note of in media and political circles. You must have seen those days Jammu occupying the prime time on television channels and getting banner headings in leading

national newspapers. The agitation educated the entire country on issues of Jammu region.

You remember, during the days of agitation people blocked entry of National Conference leader Dr Farooq Abdullah and Peoples Democratic Party leader Mehbooba Mufti to the town they were under a virtual siege at the airport for several hours before being escorted under heavy security to the airport. Thousands of meters of

I have suffered huge personal monetary losses during agitation and later in elections. Right now I am busy in making up losses, getting back to my clients and pleasing their cases in the court.

But yes, let me admit that I often feel isolated among the politicians who have their personal interests supreme.

cloth were burnt in the effigies of Omar Abdullah for his speech in Parliament. But just a week after agitation was over Omar was brought in long procession of enthusiast supporters to his party office and almost same was the reception accorded to Mufti Mohammad Sayeed on his arrival to Jammu. They were welcomed in the same town of Jammu as heroes. How this turnaround?

See, this is the basis misfortune of Jammu. Our political leaders are

Epilogue Ă˜ 48 Ă— September 2009

dishonest to their people. These Kashmiri leaders are chronic enemies of Jammu but they still get warm receptions because political leaders of different parties have their own vested interests.

But sir, you had emerged as the popular leader during agitation and your supporters would often call you as Gandhi of Jammu. You owe an answer for going into hibernation.

Why do you blame other leaders when you emerged as the most popular leader yourself?

I am not in any hibernation. You must understand that I am a professional. I am a lawyer by profession and that is how I earn my bread and butter. I have hundreds of clients who trust me. They suffered during agitation. Immediately after agitation I got back to my professional work and respond to my clients. That is my basic engagement and I can not compromise there.

During agitation, you would always vociferously assert that you have nothing to do with politics and will never join active politics. But it did not take much long for you to cross the fence. What brought you to the electoral politics that you contested Lok Sabha elections on BJP ticket?

I have always been of the opinion that issues can be resolved only when they are raised at appropriate platforms. The leaders of Jammu mostly watched their own interests and never talked about issue of the region. I had espoused a cause that I will take Jammu issues to the Parliament to seek their redress. The central leadership of BJP also felt that I am the right choice for the job.

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But this decision was strongly resisted by the local leadership of Jammu.

Yes there were some elements with narrow approach but the central leadership was convinced about me.

You lost election by huge margin of 1.22 lakh votes. That is a significant margin. It was no direct contest by any means. Months before the elections you were the leader of masses; somebody who mobilized lakhs of people. Then in electoral politics, people did not fully trust you. What happened?

Your assessment is wrong and I don't agree with this. The ruling establishment deleted more than 1.5 lakh votes, particularly in regions of Rajouri and Poonch who were believed to be my supporters.

Had that not happened, I would have won the elections by a margin of at least 30,000 votes. Then there were two other factors –I did not have the kind of money to face elections and BJP's local cadre did not fully support me.

Well, according to you your loss in elections comes as loss of Jammu but there are ways of taking up public issues even if you are not an elected representative.

For example, Jammu is once again agitating on the location of Central University as many believe that it is being established in Kashmir; recently the Union Environment Minister announced a funding of Rs 1700 Crores for preservation of famous lakes in Kashmir but there was no mention of important water bodies in Jammu region. These issues are being seen in Jammu as fresh onslaught of discrimination

against region. We have not heard anything from you.

See, on the issue of Central University our people are agitating in their own way. As far exclusion of Jammu from water bodies conservation plan is concerned, I am not aware of that. I could not see many of the newspapers recently and am hearing this first time from you. I will issue a statement on this very soon.

I am not in any hibernation.

You must understand that I am a professional. I am a lawyer by profession and that is how I earn my bread and butter. I have hundreds of clients who trust me. They suffered during agitation.

Immediately after agitation I got back to my professional work and respond to my clients. That is my basic engagement and I can not compromise there.

You are no more with Shri Amarnath Yatra Sangharsh Samiti and have never been seen at the BJP headquarters or at any official functions of the party after elections. Don't you feel that a year after agitation you stand completely isolated?

I am no more a convener of the Shri Amarnath Yatra Sangharsh Samiti but I continue to be its member and have often been attending meetings.

Epilogue Ă˜ 49 Ă— September 2009

Well, it is true that I have not been visiting the BJP office or attending many of the functions because politics is a different game. I told you earlier that my basis engagement is my legal profession where currently I am devoting my time. I have suffered huge personal monetary losses during agitation and later in elections. Right now I am busy in making up losses, getting back to my clients and pleasing their cases in the court. But yes, let me admit that I often feel isolated among the politicians who have their personal interests supreme.

That is not fair sir. You have a mandate of 2.5 lakh people of four districts who voted for you in Lok Sabha elections. You could not reach the Parliament but you are a representative of 2.5 lakh people.

We have not seen you even on the thanks giving tour.

Let me correct you. I thanked my voters through statement in the press and the local television channels.

But sir do you think people would have voted for you if you had sought votes by a request through the press. We saw you reaching out to all areas across four districts.

Look I have told you twice earlier that for being active in politics one needs a lot of infrastructure and money. You can well understand that one needs at least a good vehicle to reach out to these far flung areas.

Neither have I had the kind of money nor the infrastructure to do that. But that does not mean that I am keeping myself completely away from people.

I am doing whatever is possible for me. Recently I have been to Chhamb sector (some 40 kilometers from Jammu City) to thank the people who voted for me.

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Year After Land Row OPINION

Needed Soul Searching Life After Sangarsh 2008 KAPIL SHARMA

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magine what was happening these days last year. Emotions of Jammuites were at the peak. I have not seen freedom struggle but I am sure that the feelings and sentiments if not greater but must have been at par. What has happened now situation or feelings it now are just like a deflated balloon.

We have forgotten every thing so fast.

Where that energy has gone? Has any body thought what was the real issue ?

You think that piece of land, well I strongly contradict that. We all know what is the real problem. I have failed to understand why no body is airing the real issue openly and bravely. I firmly believe in the thought – “Be Bold in What You Stand For.” Yes, the real issue is suppression of Jammu and Jammuties. Don't you think so. My dear friends land now was not the disease but was jus a symptom. Last year only the symptom was treated but the disease is still there. What we got in the solutions of land deal was a symptomatic relief.

Disease is still not cured. Even at that time no body talked about permanent discriminations with Jammu and even today we are sleeping over things.

Ours is the story of two siblings.

One sibling has never recognized or respected his/her mother, has always been on war path with its own family, has always admired or respected the neighbour's mother still the real mother has always prepared or given everything to this sibling. His all the demands are listened with due care accepted or not accepted is different issue. On the other hand is this second sibling who has

always remained obedient and humble to his mother, has always accepted all the orders or commands of mother with no fuss at all. Look at the irony the mother has never thought. This child is ailing. This child is not well at all. Elder brother is not taking care of the younger one and mother has no time or intention to take care of this ailing child. Why is it so? The reason is, younger child does not cry and remember mother feeds only when the baby cries.

Problem with us is that we think everything will happen on its own or why should I do any thing. It's not my problem. But then will bell the cat. Two generations have gone and they did nothing; ours is the third generation which has taken this discrimination lying down. Do you want our children should also suffer because we are sleeping.

Do you remember these names – Mr. Brij Mohan, Mr. Gulshan Honda and Mr. Subash . No even I was made to do some search to get thee names. These people are our martyrs. (Shheed of Jammu). These boys sacrificed their lives on September 16, 1966 for the cause of Jammu. It was their sacrifice because of which we have Agricultural University at R.S.Pura. If this is the respect we carry for our Martyrs then we deserve what we are today (Please pardon me if I am getting too harsh) There is a talk of creation of some new State in India.There is no Jammu in that list and why Jammu's name should be there? Who has asked for it ? No body.

That shows we have not even started our struggle. It takes ages for such

Epilogue Ø 50 × September 2009

struggles to conclude. People of Jammu are contented with the licences of B.Ed Colleges, Bars and Liquor Shops. This is not an anti-national or criminal demand.

Constitution of India very well permits this. New state had been created in the past and will be created in future as well.

Till the time it does not happen we the people of Jammu will keep as cribbing whenever we see the lists of P.S.C., S.S.B. entrance examinations etc.

I have got nothing to do with BJP, Congress, PDP or NC etc. I am a common man like everybody. I want the answer from all the common people of Jammu.

Was last year's Sangarsh a fluke. Do your think there was no spine or bone in the our struggle. If your answer is no then why Jammu centric people were defeated. My pointer is towards defeat of Ms. Shilpi Verma in Assembly elections and Mr. Lila Karan Sharma in Parliamentary Elections. Again I would like to highlight I have nothing to do with any political party. Their defeat has given the strength to the thought of struggle of proverbeat two and half districts. Such ideas got weightage because we the people of Jammu are reluctant to come out of the confronts of our bedrooms and drawing rooms.

Come on friends, if we really think some thing is got to be done then keep hand on your hearts and do some soul searching and do something for coming generations. Please think over it.

Author is a doctor at Acharya Shri Chander College of Medical Science (ASCOMS) Hospital. Views expressed here are his personal.

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Year After Land Row

Kashmir's Democratic Catharsis RIYAZ WANI

Local elections in the restive Indian state have reshaped Kashmir's landscape of conflict In the summer of 2008, Indian Kashmir reverberated with the groundswell of protest. Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets, heeding the call of the separatist conglomerate, the Hurriyat Conference. This was the first time after the initial years of two decades of armed conflict that Kashmiris reverted to the method of peaceful political agitation, loudly turning their backs on the gun. (The immediate provocation for the protest was the transfer of state land to a Hindu trust which facilitates the annual pilgrimage to the ancient shrine of Shri Amarnath in the Himalayas. The decision stirred the deep local suspicion of a larger design to undermine the Islamic character of the troubled, Muslim-majority Valley of Kashmir.)

To handle the protests, the state government took recourse to curfews and stringent security measures, which shut the Valley down for almost three months. Yet the most effective way of dealing with the protests and the underlying mistrust of New Delhi that they stemmed from - was not through the baton but the ballot.

Elections for the state assembly in December 2008 were revelatory.

Initially, observers feared the worst for the polls. Major regional pro-New Delhi parties like National Conference (NC - the opposition party at the time), People's Democratic Party (PDP - the then ruling party) and the Congress itself (India's ruling party) squared up for a tough electoral battle. But the seething "separatist" summer seemed to have driven these establishment and more conciliatory parties to the fringes of the Valley's political landscape. Hurriyat, which saw the state polls as designed to strengthen India's "occupation" of Kashmir, called for the boycott of the exercise. In the lead up to the vote on 17 November, it seemed that the force of recent popular protest would leave the polling booths relatively empty. Instead, turnout shocked everybody. Booth after booth, long waving queues of people waited for hours in the winter chill to cast their votes. An estimated 63 per cent of voters (around three million out of the 4.8 million eligible voters) cast their votes, which was by far the highest turnout recorded in the Valley in the past 20 years.

T

he separatists were stunned, as were most observers of the crisis in Kashmir, a state in the throes of secessionist violence since 1989. The same people who fought the system in the summer voted for it in the winter.

The struggle against Indian rule had gone hand-in-hand with participation in democratic elections, even though the former and the latter apparently stood in opposition to each other.

The assembly elections had a

significant discourse-changing effect within Kashmiri politics. Suddenly, separatist figures who rode high on the long summer of discontent were pushed to the margins of the state's political life and the pro-India mainstream parties like NC and PDP hurtled back to centrestage (the NC won the plurality of seats, and formed a coalition government with the Congress). It goes without saying that a free and fair election can usher in profound political transformation in any

Epilogue Ă˜ 51 Ă— September 2009

society. What's more remarkable is that the democratic electoral process within the long-running conflict situation in Kashmir has proven therapeutic too.

The election in December 2008 isn't the only one that nudged Kashmir along a different track. In 2002, Kashmir assembly polls were held in a situation of unremitting militant violence. The state was still reeling from the destabilizing consequences of the short India-Pakistan war in 1999 over the

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Azadi agitation, Kashmir, August 2008

Kargil heights. The continuing insurgency inside Kashmir intensified with fidayeen attacks and suicide bombs becoming routine. But the election in 2002 - which was the first cleanly-held exercise in the state's entire democratic history - made a significant, redeeming difference. In a spectacular change in its Kashmir strategy, New Delhi finally agreed to hold a free and fair election in the state as an effort to both clear its name of past wrong-doing and to undermine the ideology and popularity of the separatists.

Democratic processes in Kashmir at the time lacked all credibility.

Successive elections in the state had been rigged to suit New Delhi's chosen allies and political outfits. In 1987, the ruling NC was allowed to manipulate the election in its favour when all indications pointed towards the triumph of Muslim United Front, an

alliance of largely religious parties led by the Jamaat-i-Islami. The same practice was followed in 1996, when the Indian army coerced people to vote to boost the turnout in what remained a mostly boycotted election, with less than 20 percent of eligible Kashmiris voting. All the polls from 1953 through 1975 also share in this history of manipulation, with local governments being imposed and dismissed at the will of the Indian government. Such a rich tradition of orchestrating from New Delhi sparked the outrage that fed into a violent secessionist movement in 1989 (which was only abetted and transformed into a more Islamist insurgency later in the 1990s with the spill-over of Afghanistan-hardened mujahideen fighters after the triumph of the Taliban).

Yet the effect of the 2002 polls was striking. The election for the first time dislodged the NC and ended its fifty

Epilogue Ă˜ 52 Ă— September 2009

year-old monopoly over Kashmir. And the beneficiary of this urge for change was the PDP - then just six years old - led by a former home minister of India, Mufti Muhammad Sayeed. The result was cathartic for the long pent up democratic aspirations in Valley. The realization that Kashmiris could actually change governments through the ballot gave the otherwise alienated people a fresh stake in the system.

Everybody in the Valley expected the NC to ride back to power on New Delhi's support. But relatively high turnout (44 percent) set in motion a sea change in Kashmiri politics.

While the verdict of the election came as a relief to Kashmiris, it was something of the opposite for many politicians. Realizing that political power in Kashmir was now flowing from the people rather than from the will of New Delhi, politicians had to become more responsive to local issues and

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Assembly elections, Kashmir, November 2009

aspirations. Political parties which until now exclusively represented New Delhi 's interests in Kashmir began to better accommodate the Valley's grassroots discourse. The PDP, which was part of a six year rotational coalition government with Congress, focused on improving governance and security while deftly straddling the Valley's mainstreamseparatist political divide.

The separatist strand, as embodied by the likes of the pro-Pakistan Hurriyat Conference, remained important within Kashmir's political landscape. But proIndia mainstream parties, particularly PDP, made deep inroads for the first time into undermining the political appeal of the separatists. They incorporated much of the agenda of the separatists, but stopped well short of the conventional rhetoric that calls for independence from India. PDP was in the forefront of this new politics, criticising the much-loathed Armed

Forces Special Powers Act, seeking a reduction in the security presence of the state and demanding an acceptable settlement between India and Pakistan over Kashmir. The reconfigured platforms found resonance with Kashmiris, and helped consolidated a mainstream mass base in the state.

PDP rule resulted in the rise of a representative political mainstream with strong indigenous moorings, that responded to local discussion and debate and helped dissipate the accumulated public anger which decades of political stonewalling had created. The party worked to make the security forces more accountable for their treatment of civilians. It also reined in the dreaded "Special Operation Group" of the Kashmir police which was responsible for gross human rights violations in the state. It released a number of detained separatists as part of its "Healing Touch" policy. Under the

Epilogue Ă˜ 53 Ă— September 2009

weight of increasing democratization within Kashmir, the hardline positions of several separatist parties began to crumble. Unnerved by the resurrected relevance of the mainstream parties, separatists have steadily moved towards a more pragmatic articulation of their demands.

It has become increasingly common to hear talk of flexible solutions to the Kashmir crisis, which accommodate changing global realities (including India's rise on the international stage and Islamabad's growing willingness to compromise on Kashmir ). And one major separatist Sajjad Lone, hoping to remain relevant, controversially decided to enter electoral politics, unsuccessfully contesting in the recent national parliamentary election.

The past seven years of the democratic experience in Kashmir albeit still flawed in many respects -

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encourages the belief that an environment of conflict and division can be improved if a democratic outlet is made available.

Democratic processes may not overhaul the fundamental crisis or counter the daily motions of insurgency and repression, but they have more subtly softened the sources of discord, tempering their intensity. In India's case, Kashmir may not be the only example of the utility of democracy within conflict.

Seventeen years ago, an election in Punjab - the western Indian state that endured an armed, separatist Sikh campaign through the 1980s -

made a substantial difference to the affairs of the troubled state.

This change was duly noted in the contemporary readings of the poll, and a parallel was forged. As Sumeet Ganguly writes in Crisis in Kashmir, "The (Punjab) state elections of 1992, which followed five years of insurgency and direct rule from New Delhi , resulted in extremely low voter turnout but did bring to power a legally constituted government. The subsequent local elections produced extra-ordinarily high turnouts - more than 80 per cent of the eligible voters". This is a trajectory that emerged in Kashmir too, with the middling turnout in 2002 polls leading to

more than 60 per cent polling in the 2008 assembly polls. A democratic process that has generally made right and responsive noises, delivered on broad parameters of governance - no doubt with some glaring failures now and then - has simultaneously engaged and battled the separatist discourse.

This has even caused the separatists to begin to find their own democratic moorings and appreciate the new ground realities. Now it is incumbent upon India and Pakistan, the state stakeholders in the conflict, to build on these developments and pursue a meaningful settlement.

(Courtesy : Open Democracy)

15th

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In addition, fellowships are also awarded to print and photo journalists interest in covering issues of distress seasonal migration and food security, child malnutrition and women’s health.

The fellowship amounts to Rs. 1,00,000/- each. Women journalists and stringers from small local newspapers are encouraged to apply.

The last date for receipt of application is October 15th, 2009 For more information and application guidelines contact National Media Fellowships

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National Foundation for India is a professional, independent India grant making and fundraising body, helping people improve their own lives. It supports partners who look for innovative solutions to complex development and social problems in poor, remote and challenging parts of the country.

Epilogue Ø 54 × September 2009

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Locating CU, IIM

Game is Lost for Now as ‘Divided we Always Fall’ ZAFAR CHOUDHARY

An age old adage 'united we stand and divided we fall' is something taught to the school children in the early primary classes with a pictorial graphic of a bundle of sticks. The tender buds are quick to understand the logic of staying united but in Jammu and Kashmir even generations do not understand this simple ground rule. Divided, as the peoples are on regional lines between Kashmir and Jammu, they are suffering losses but are still not ready to unite for common causes.

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stablishment of two world-class premiere institutions of higher learning –the Central University and Indian Institute of Management –are two fresh cases where the narrow division between regions is coming to sheer disadvantage of the peoples of Jammu and Kashmir. Based on the recommendations of the Knowledge Commission and out of award of the Eleventh Finance Commission, the Government of India (UPA-I) sanctioned 15 new Central Universities and 7 new Indian Institutes of Management to come up at different places in the country. In a historic decision, of course with the efforts of then Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, Jammu and Kashmir was bestowed upon by one each such institution. Indeed, not a small achievement for the state. Though in matters of faculty recruitment and admission of students, the CU and IIM are open to a countrywide jurisdiction but their coming up in any region brings added advantages of changing mindset of the peoples. Therefore, the sanction of such prestigious institutions for J&K can be described as best thing to have happened to the state in many decades.

The problem in Jammu and Kashmir is, however, entirely different.

Epilogue Ø 55 × September 2009

People are more concerned over where these institutions are located than what they deliver and how soon they come up. Unfortunately the line of division between Kashmir and Jammu regions is such an arduous and treacherous high mountain that vehicles have to exchange sides via an underneath 2.4 kilometers long tunnel –nothing can be situated atop this mountain to do an equitable justice between Kashmir and Jammu and people in one region will immediately point out injustice if anything comes up first on the other side. Resolving this crisis is always a major strategic challenge for the political establishment. Soon after CU and IIM were announced for J&K, it was given to understand by then Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad that CU shall come up in Jammu and IIM in Kashmir.

The announcement was welcomed in both regions though with some reservations. As the process of establishing CU rolled out, the state government, for its pre-occupations elsewhere, delayed identification of land for the purpose and in the meanwhile the Union Human Resource Ministry appointed a Vice Chancellor of Kashmir accent and ethnicity. The founder VC Prof Abdul Wahid, as a

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Paviter Singh, a retired Judge, is Convenor of CUAS.

matter of his convenience, set up a small establishment office in Srinagar City to initiate some work on the University. That was enough an indicator for the CU-watchers in Jammu that the campus is now coming up in Kashmir and thus begins the agitation.

The state government has, so far, neither clarified nor denied as where it wants to see the Central University to come up even as much on this account has to be decided by the HRD Ministry of India. There is an obvious reason for state government's silence on the issue.

Keeping two regions pitted against each other helps the coalition partners strengthening their constituencies –National Conference in Kashmir and Congress in Jammu.

On locating the campuses of CU and IIM, people in Jammu region have a sound argument and a completely flawed approach. The argument is: name any institution worth naming –Jammu and Kashmir University, Agriculture University, Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (a deemed University of repute), NIIT (also a deemed University), Engineering College –all first came up in Kashmir.

The demand of establishment of Central University in Jammu has been made by the leaders of the ongoing agitation to completely look like Hindu-centric and City-centric. Majority of the leaders spearheading agitation have their well known RSS affiliations and the Central University Andolan Samiti (CUAS) was until recently headquartered at a building in Jammu that is called Geeta Bhawan, which also houses offices of right wing Hindu organizations like Bajrang Dal and Vishva Hindu Parishad. There is no Muslim representative in the CUAS, particularly from the Muslim dominated four of the ten districts in Jammu region Jammu region got its first main University and Agriculture University years after these were established in Kashmir. SKIMS and NIIT are exclusive privileges of Kashmir alone. “Hell is not going to break loose if newly sanctioned Central University is located in Jammu or if first allowed to come up in Jammu and a similar institute is then established in Kashmir”, is the common argument in Jammu and is largely valid for justice to regional aspirations. The approach with which this matter is pursued is grossly wrong and a typical reflective of Jammu's many failures in the past despite massive agitations. The demand of establishment of Central University in Jammu has been made by the leaders of the ongoing agitation to completely look like Hindu-centric and City-centric. Majority of the leaders spearheading agitation have their well known RSS affiliations and the Central University Andolan Samiti (CUAS) was until recently headquartered at a building in Jammu that is called Geeta Bhawan, which also houses offices of right wing Hindu organizations like Bajrang Dal and Vishva Hindu Parishad.

There is no Muslim representative in the

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CUAS, particularly from the Muslim dominated four of the ten districts in Jammu region. Therefore, even before Kashmir Valley counters Jammu's demand for Central University, there is an advanced and quick reaction from the districts of Doda, Kishtwar, Ramban, Rajouri and Poonch. In Doda district alone as many as 35 educational, social, political and religious organizations have come under a single banner to demand the establishment of Central University in either of the three districts –Doda, Kishtwar or Ramban –that form the so called Chenab Valley region.

Given such character and outlook of Central University Andolan Samiti, the demand coming from Jammu City could have faced a summary rejection at the very outset if a serious political question of the survival of Congress party (a partner in J&K's ruling coalition was not involved). Congress and BJP are the traditional competitors in four Hindu dominated districts of Jammu region –Jammu, Samba, Kathua and Udhampur. The Congress feels sitting idle on the issue it may well further loose out ground to the BJP in these districts as it happened during the

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Assembly elections following last year's Amarnath land row agitation when BJP tally shot up from one to 11 seats in these districts and Congress lost eight seats it had won in 2002 elections. Therefore, the Congress legislators from Jammu impressed upon the Chief Minister to lead a delegation to the Prime Minister and Human Resource Development Minister. The delegation headed by Omar Abdullah, indeed, made a stupid demand: Give us another Central University –“one for Jammu and other for Kashmir”. Though there was no written reply from Government of India but the obvious response is easy to understand. Till 2008, India could have only 20 Central Universities and 15 were added that year. Is it so simple to sanction another for J&K in just one year just to balance the regional sentiments?

At a time when UPA-II is just taking control of things and is reportedly in process of making a fresh blueprint for its Kashmir dialogue project, the Central Government appears in no mood to burn it hands with the regional fire in Jammu and Kashmir which is out to be doused by the state government. The message is clear from New Delhi: set your house in order first and then lay claim on the CU and IIM. Leave aside having another Central University,

Therefore, even before Kashmir Valley counters Jammu's demand for Central University, there is an advanced and quick reaction from the districts of Doda, Kishtwar, Ramban, Rajouri and Poonch. In Doda district alone as many as 35 educational, social, political and religious organizations have come under a single banner to demand the establishment of Central University in either of the three districts –Doda, Kishtwar or Ramban –that form the so called Chenab Valley region ********** Given such character and outlook of Central University Andolan Samiti, the demand coming from Jammu City could have faced a summary rejection at the very outset if a serious political question of the survival of Congress party (a partner in J&K's ruling coalition was not involved).

Congress and BJP are the traditional competitors in four Hindu dominated districts of Jammu region –Jammu, Samba, Kathua and Udhampur. The Congress feels sitting idle on the issue it may well further loose out ground to the BJP in these districts as it happened during the Assembly elections following last year's Amarnath land row agitation when BJP tally shot up from one to 11 seats in these districts and Congress lost eight seats it had won in 2002 elections ********** At a time when UPA-II is just taking control of things and is reportedly in process of making a fresh blueprint for its Kashmir dialogue project, the Central Government appears in no mood to burn it hands with the regional fire in Jammu and Kashmir which is out to be doused by the state government.

The message is clear from New Delhi: set your house in order first and then lay claim on the CU and IIM. Leave aside having another Central University, Jammu and Kashmir seems to have lost a year even on the IIM.

Epilogue Ø 57 × September 2009

Jammu and Kashmir seems to have lost a year even on the IIM. Latest reports and inquiries from the CU officials in Srinagar suggest that the HRD Ministry has told the Vice Chancellor to go slow on the project. The Central University of J&K has clearly been put on hold and its scheduled roll out of three M.Phill faculties –in I n f o r m a t i o n Te c h n o l o g y, Business Management and English Literature –have been s u s p e n d e d . Re c r u i t m e n t process has too been halted.

So is the case with IIM. In August 27 meeting of the Central Cabinet nod was given to establishment of seven new IIMs (already announced by HRD Ministry on March 29, 2008) but three of them –one in Jammu and Kashmir and two in other states –were put on hold for next year as the respective state government failed to identify the suitable locations as per parameters set by the HRD Ministry. The same day, state government told the Legislative Assembly (currently in session) that it was for HRD Ministry to finalise the land as seven locations (three in Jammu and four in Kashmir) were under consideration for both CU and IIM. Recall the adage “united we stand and divided we fall”.

By staying divided for a month, Jammu and Kashmir has clearly lost an academic year of CU and IIM. It is to be seen whether people can unite to finally have both the premiere institutions, though year(s) later.

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Locating CU, IIM OPINION

CUAS and the Stillborn Wannabes ANMOL SHARMA

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nce again the nasty scenes from the last years Sri Amarnath land row confrontation are threatening to re-enact themselves on the socio-political canvass of our state of Jammu and Kashmir. The conjecture here is that the replica of the past in the shape of Central University Andolan (CUA) might make the present panorama of this riyasat even scarier than the previous land row and tenor of this new disaster a bit redder.

The 2008's controversy was attributed to vertically splitting the people of Jammu-Srinagar, JammuPoonch/Kishtwar into racial and communal lines but this year it might fulfill the remaining 'kasar'. The civil society of Kashmir may descend deep into their cocoon of isolation and repugnance for India while the people of Jammu cry the bogey of discrimination into a new building block.

The biggest tragedy which has compounded the gravity of the scenario is the inconsiderate handling of the issue by the daft politicians from Congress as well as National Conference.

Some of them are primarily guilty of propagating disinformation amongst the masses and some of them, secondarily for keep their mouths shut.

A very few people in reality know what the format and principal idea behind Central University is and what kind of ramifications these billion dollar

super mega institutions the with stateof-the-art study hubs, taught by international faculties and open to national as well international undergraduates are going to have on each of the selected 15 geographic locations of India. These Central Universities will also support one college each in every district under its domain. Hence, the colossal magnitude of this project in all the terms imaginable is not difficult to guess.

Government of India intends to raise the standard of these universities to same level as we already have in the world famous Jawahar Lal Nehru University or Delhi University. The Central University of Jammu and

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Kashmir (CUJK) is naturally going to radically transform the place on which it will sit and educationally as well as socially it is going to have the same effect which IIT, Delhi or metro had, that eventually changed the face of New Delhi.

Now, if we look at the voices emanating from both sides of the Jawahar Tunnel it becomes quite clear and easy to understand that everybody wants CUJK at their respective places.

Reading the two famous dailies published from Srinagar and listening to the voices of locals from Jammu makes clear the chasm dividing the two habitations.

At the same time, both the

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factions are completely off beam.

Article after article in Kashmiri local dailies is asserting that Jammu already has a very modern SMVDU, Baba Ghulam Shah Badshah University, so no need for one more. But they must also realize that first university in J&K opened in Kashmir, first Agricultural University opened in Kashmir so was the case with REC, NIT, Islamic University of Science and Tech in Awantipora and SKIMS is also a super-specialty Hospital cum University which is functioning there.

Nothing of that sorts happened first in Jammu. Is it not?

Moreover, the then Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad is on record to say that two more Universities in Kashmiran Islamic University funded by various trusts and foundations and Sharda Peeth University under the aegis of Sri Amarnath Shrine Board will be set up there.

On the other hand, Jammu is u n n e ce ssa rily a doptin g a ve ry aggressive posture and many politicians of the BJP and allied organizations are adamant and pressuring the CM to shift the site from Srinagar to Jammu. But reading sub-section (5) of section 3 makes clear that it is the Central Government which will select the site of the Headquarters and they have also to publish it in the Official Gazette. Also if Central University Act, 2009 is to be followed then the Chancellor, VC etc are to be appointed under section 10, 11 respectively by the “Visitor” i.e., the President of India herself. Omar is nowhere at the scene here. So why are people not told about this.

It is probable that keeping the masses unaware helps the hardliner and separatist of Srinagar in the furthering the alienist agenda in Kashmir and labeling the government as pro-Kashmir helps communal forces of Jammu in their 'I told you so' stance. Every person of Jammu has cause for concern if the

site for the university was identified in Samba and later it was shifted to Srinagar, but the way they are protesting is a failed approach which leads to confrontation and no body wins.

The '30-35 years old and still a student' aka ' Pa p p u s ' o f J a m m u university who have not been able to pass their exams and in any ordinary day would have still sat near Sharmaji's canteen or roamed idly around the campus are all of sudden pinching themselves to see if it is really they who are coming on local TV doing press conferences and the various printpress interviews. It is also not a hidden fact that some of them have serious criminal charges against them pending in the Court of Law. It would not be surprising to know that quite few of them might have even prepared their s p e e c h e s t o NDTV/CNNIBN. Going berserk on streets, shouting abuses, damaging public/private property, demeaning the Government or the Chief Minister or for that matter calling for bandh which hits the poor badly are all exercises which were tried last year and yielded no good in the end. The way of protesting which reciprocates a civilized society would be to protest in a decent

What is a Central University?

While other universities in the country are established by the State Governments, a Central University in India is formed by the Government of India, by an Act of Parliament. The Government of India is responsible for arranging, allocating and distributing financial resources required by the University Grants Commission (UGC) for the establishment of Central Universities in India. Currently there are 20 Central Universities functioning in India and 15 others are coming up.

The higher education system in India being one of the largest in the world, the responsibility rests on the Central Government to devise policies with a view to improving the quality of higher education in the country. Improving the quality and access of higher education and research in India has become all the more important keeping in view the growing need of qualified human resources in various sectors of the economy. Therefore it can only be hoped that there would be more central universities in India in the immediate future.

Since the State Governments establish and plan for the colleges and universities in the states and the Central Government does it for the Central Universities, it is essential that there is adequate cooperation between the State Governments and the Central Government in the field of higher education. The Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE) has therefore been constituted to assist in the functioning of the two Governments and ensure that parity is maintained.

The Central Government has also been empowered by a special act of the Constitution to maintain a particular standard conducive to the educational health of the country. The Central Government lays special emphasis on research and development carried out in technical as well as other institutions.

Epilogue Ø 59 × September 2009

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manner. Petitions should be sent to the President of India who herself is the “Visitor” of the central university and all the matter are under her direct control. Similarly there can be other modes of protesting which can be adopted by the students but in all respects playing at the hands of the conniving politicians would be like fighting a battle which is already lost.

If the bigger picture is to be comprehended then to a strategic Analyst of RAW or any department of a university observing the fact that a diehard anti India newspaper is encouraging articles which directly demand that a university sponsored, controlled and financed by the Government of India should be set up in Kashmir would definitely make him jump from his chair. It would be a great strategic win for India if such a thing

Some of the special features of Central Universities are Ä The President of India acts as the 'Visitor' for all the Central Universities Ä The President has the power to nominate a few members to the Executive

Committee/Board of Management/Court/Selection Committees of the University in terms of the various statutes and provisions laid down in the University Act. Ä The Ministry of Human Resources and Development (MHRD) assists the President of India in the appointment of Vice Chancellors, Court Nominees and Selection Committee Nominees.

could happen. Kashmiris as a matter of fact are living in a closed environment without a touch of outside world in the sense that they have no opportunity mixing with non-muslims or nonkashmiris. All the time a single thought of oppressive India is echoing their minds.

If they can come out of their slumber and realize that any ordinary civilian in UP, Punjab etc is also the victim Existing CUs of the rotten system then Ä Aligarh Muslim University perhaps they can start Ä Assam University identifying themselves with Ä Banaras Hindu University others too. This world class Ä Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University university will also bring with Ä English and Foreign Languages University it students and teachers Ä Indraprastha University from different parts of India and world, it will also bring Ä Jamia Millia Islamia University great exposure and open the Ä Manipur University minds that will make the Ä Maulana Azad National Urdu University local students of Kashmir Ä Delhi University understand different Ä Mahatma Gandhi Antarrashtriya Hindi viewpoints. It would not be a Vishwavidyalaya churlish to say that it might Ä Mizoram University to do India what East India Ä Nagaland University Co. did to UK but in a good Ä North Eastern Hill University sense of regaining the lost Ä Pondicherry University faith of Kashmiris.

Just like one professor Ä Tezpur University of Columbia University did a Ä University of Allahabad research on Metro of New Ä University of Hyderabad Delhi and he described in Ä Visva-Bharati University great detail how the metro is Ä Jawaharlal Nehru University effecting change in the mindsets of Delhiites and

Epilogue Ø 60 × September 2009

that they are becoming more sophisticated in their thoughts, speak English and act proficiently in their behavior while riding the metro.

The best deal would be to set up two CUJK's, one in Jammu and other in Srinagar, and is in consonance with what Mr. Pavitar Singh of CUAS said in one newspaper “…Government should first establish the already sanctioned Central University at Samba and then explore the possibility of having Central University at Kashmir.”

This makes nobody feel neglected and economy of the both the regions gets a sonic boost.

New Cus coming up in : Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana, HP, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Orissa, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and J&K. The author, is lawyer by education and practice is a dispassionate commentator also.

F EATURE S

Changpas of Ladakh

Changpa Tribe’s Identity, Way of Life Under Threat TASHI MORUP

Tribal communities all over the world are now being acknowledged as playing a crucial role in sustaining natural resources and protecting the environment. This is simply because unlike urban centers or even agrarian communities, they live off the produce that nature provides and not cultivated. The fishing communities, forest dwellers or adivasis, the nomads, the herdsmen all play a role in upholding a way of life that does not strip the environment of its regenerative power. This, however, is under severe challenge for Changpas of Ladakh where an enlightened governance is needed to prevent degeneration of a robust mountainous community.

I

n Ladakh's portion of the Tibetan Plateau where temperatures in winter plunge to a sub-zero and the bare mountainous terrain makes any movement difficult, the nomadic inhabitants, the Changpas represent a unique way of life. Over hundreds of years, this has allowed them to meet the challenge of survival through the institution of 'polyandrous' and not the more conventional 'monogamous' marriages.

The children are borne out of wedlock between one child-bearing woman and several men, all brothers, the most famous historical example being Draupadi. In Ladakh, these many Draupadis are in a sense the core strength of the Changpas each family which owns a large herd of livestock including sheep, goats, yaks and horses, which they graze on the vast mountainous expanse of the Changthang. This involves moving the animals throughout the year across a variety of grazing areas and requires efficient management and high levels of cooperation between family members.

The rugged terrain, limited pastures and winter chill makes the family unit

tightly knit together to meet the challenge.

However sparse pastures of low nutritive value prevent families from increasing herd size while the family size relying on livestock has grow. This has led to competition among the families for animal grazing space to

Epilogue Ă˜ 61 Ă— September 2009

sustain their levels of income from the sale of wool and of animals for meat, which is becoming insufficient to meet family needs. What is at stake here is the traditional practice of polyandry among the Changpa, which has been of significant and practical economic importance. Through this it has been

F EATURE S Changpas of Ladakh

possible for single families to sustain They take turns grazing the young goats mature deliveries. Due to timely large herds of livestock, requiring as and sheep on alternate days. The two medical help at a hospital in Leh, a they do, extensive manpower for their fathers Phuntsog and Delden, likewise fourth child survived. During this period control. It has also been a very practical take turns in grazing the 'demos' or of illness the family had no one to look way of restricting population growth. female yaks, while mother Skalzang after its livestock, resulting in Sanghe looks after the home. The whole losing his yaks and horses to wolves.

The break-down of such joint household was completely thrown out He among many of the other Changpa families due to increasingly of gear when after a long illness who have left the Chang-thang, has monogamous marriages, has not only Phuntsog lost the use of his legs. Deldan been reduced to buying raw goatskins resulted in a considerable increase in then walked for several days across the from butchers in Leh, instead of the population, but has left the new shearing his own animals. From nuclear families lacking a proud owner of livestock in a sufficient manpower to What is at stake here is the traditional region where his ancestors efficiently deal with their roamed, he has to work as a day livestock, which can range from practice of polyandry among the Changpa, labourer to feed his small 200 to 500 head per family. which has been of significant and practical family of three and to send his Whilst families in other herding economic importance. Through this it has 10-year -old son to school. societies might turn to employing additional help, the Tribal communities all been possible for single families to sustain economic circumstances of life over the world are now being large herds of livestock, requiring as they do, on the Chang-thang do not acknowledged as playing a extensive manpower for their control. It has permit what for these families crucial role in sustaining would be an impossible luxury. natural resources and also been a very practical way of restricting protecting the environment.

According to an official in population growth. The break-down of such This is simply because unlike the Leh District land records urban centers or even agrarian office, revenue record indicate joint families due to increasingly communities, they live off the that the initial number of only monogamous marriages, has not only resulted produce that nature provides eight households in Kharnak has in a considerable increase in the population, and not cultivated. The fishing now increased to 93. According communities, forest dwellers to the 1993 census carried out but has left the new nuclear families lacking or adivasis, the nomads, the by the Leh Nutrition Project sufficient manpower to efficiently deal with herdsmen all play a role in (LNP), the community at that upholding a way of life that time consisted of 67 families, their livestock, which can range from 200 to does not strip the environment indicating an increase of 26 500 head per family. of its regenerative power. families in just a decade. As the culture of polyandry declines, This needs to be more families are splitting up respected and they need a snowbound Chang-thang and over the with the men finding wives. guiding hand to steer them and if 5,600m Taglang-la to reach Leh for necessary steady them amidst the Even in normal times, the few help. An army rescue helicopter went inevitable winds of change in social, surviving families are stretched to their out to find Phuntsog, and ferried him to economic and environmental processes limits in just dealing with day-to-day Leh where he was hospitalised for several that affect them. This necessarily needs life. This gets exacerbated during months. This small unit was able to enlightened governance. It would be a crises like illness and brings to fore, the survive Phuntsog's absence by somehow shame if we let such a proud and robust abominable state of health facilities for pitching in to collectively share his tasks. mountainous community degenerate this brave and robust community. 25 Others have not been so lucky. into a compromised existence on the year old Dolma Chondol and her monk Sanghe Palzang (43) in Kharnak was fringes of society. brother Jigmet Chonjor, age 21 years struck with paralysis for three years and belong to a smaller polyandrous family.

Charkha Features his wife Ishey Dolma suffered pre-

Epilogue Ă˜ 62 Ă— September 2009

F EATURE S

Changpas of Ladakh

The Fur Traders and The Lost Avenues BINISH GULZAR & SYED RAKSHANDA SUMAN

Kashmir has a place of its own in the Fur trade before it was banned in 1978 rendering hundreds of artisans jobless. The next best thing the furries could have done was the leather work which too is dying due to official apathy.

A

s we strolled along the Abi-Guzar bund on the bank of river Jhelum we caught a glimpse of a shop “Fine Art Furriers”. This struck us as strange since we know that Fur has been banned a long time back under the Wild Life Protection Act 1978. The term 'furriers' clearly applies to a person or organisation, which sources, and markets furs In the current context, how was it possible that such a shop exists in Kashmir? Peeping through the window pane what we see is a septuagenarian man stitching a leather coat, his frail hands moving effortlessly over the garment. A while later we are in conversation with this old man who uncannily seems has been waiting for many years for us to come, to share his woes.

Gulam Hassan Pandit, with a frown on his face and a stiffening of his body initially hesitates to speak to us. It almost seems as if he feels betrayed.

The first thing that he tells us is that many people have interviewed him in the past but his words and feelings have always been misrepresented.

Glancing round the shop, we see that the shop is quite messy, with the leather jackets scattered all over the floor, the walls are cracked and a dirty mannequin dressed gorgeously in long fur jacket. There is pathos in the air, a

yearning for a time when life was full of hope. The fur jackets hanging around are the testimonial of the fact that this old man has dealt with fur business, which has all but closed down.

While there is a hesitancy to open up, there also is an eagerness to talk, share his experiences. Responding quickly to a spontaneous question about

Epilogue Ø 63 × September 2009

the name of the shop he says , “The shop has a history of more than 98 years and that the name was given almost 51 years back, when the fur business existed.”

After the prohibition on Fur, he has now taken to the leather business which though has not showed any progress in Jammu & Kashmir. The reasons are manifold. According to the statistics,

F EATURE S Changpas of Ladakh

Kashmir Leather Industry has a Kashmir however pushes up the leather shop has already taken up a new potential to generate revenue of $ 1 production costs and on the other hand business. Few of them have begun to billion, annually, but unfortunately this forces local artisans and traders to sell shift to other states to earn their industry is losing its niche. Says Gulam these products at a very low price to livelihood. There are several others Hassan, “Since we don't have leather traders outside the state. with a similar tale like Gulam Hassan factories here, we have to import the Environmentalists have always been and Mehrajuddin. All the people who raw material from Chennai and other against setting up tanneries in Kashmir, dealt with fur had to abandon the work states of country at a very high cost as it produces highly toxic effluents. in the wake of the ban imposed by the every year”. Therefore, the government. Sadly those who production of the leather took to the leather business may Leather Industry has a potential to products has reached its have to leave it in the light of minimum level. Our artisans are government apathy. An industry generate revenue of $ 1 billion, annually, famous all around the globe, the that is well suited to the region but unfortunately this industry is losing its reason being that most of our and could provide livelihoods to niche. products are handmade and thousands within Kashmir is foreigners in large numbers are gradually being snuffed out. ******* attracted to these. He informs us If the leather industry has More than 5000 Kashmiri artisans are that more than 5000 Kashmiri shown the potential to generate artisans are working with various huge revenue annually for the working with various leather industries leather industries outside J&K state's economy, then what is outside J&K because of their proven because of their proven superior stopping the government to superior craftsmanship. craftsmanship. After a long pause revive and boost this homehe says “If they can generate grown industry? Why is it only ******* value for the whole country, why concerned with the raging Since Kashmiris consume meat voraciously not for our own state, political issues and controversies Government is doing nothing for and turning a blind eye to the and statistics reveals that on an average us”. Because of the neglect by the developmental needs of the 3.5 million sheep and goat are slaughtered state government, the industry people? With an environment for loses billions every year. the raw material already in place annually for our consumption, the skin can Warming up to the subject, and a pool of local craftsmen and be utilised for production of leather he tells us that sheep leather is traders, it needs to take the step provided there are tanneries. The absence the highest quality leather and to set up tanneries here so that because of its climatic conditions entrepreneurs like Gulam Hassan of tanneries is pushing the artisans to Kashmir provides one of the best and others of his ilk do not need work outside the state and traders to seel environments for this leather. to waste their resources at Expanding on the theme, he goes sourcing leather from other the skins as throw away prices. on to say that since Kashmiris states at a high price. The fur consume meat voraciously and industry is long gone, a relic of The answer to this could have come statistics reveals that on an average 3.5 the past, one that is clearly out of sync from the Government, which is not million sheep and goat are slaughtered with current thought on society and showing any interest in setting of an ETP annually for our consumption, the skin environment. The leather business does (Effluent Treatment Plant). This could can be utilised for production of leather not carry this burden and can grow into have solved the problem and pacified provided there are tanneries. The a profitable activity for many Kashmiris. the green lobby. absence of tanneries is pushing the The onus is squarely on the government Tired of the official apathy, many artisans to work outside the state and so that a promising industry like the aspiring businessmen have already traders to seel the skins as throw away leather business does not sink into given up and many like trader, prices. atrophy.

Mehrajuddin who used to have his own The absence of a tannery in Charkha Features

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C O L UMN

Reports from Ground

Kashmir ki kali... bruised and shattered

T

MANISHA SOBHRAJANI Author is a Delhi-based independent researcher working on the various aspects of the Kashmir conflict. She can be reached at manishasobhrajani@epilogue.in)

he more-than 60-years-old tug of war between India and Pakistan over the mountain state of Jammu & Kashmir has resulted in tremendous destruction, preventing both countries from realising their full socio-economic and political potential.

Other than the loss of human lives, the casualties have been trust, brotherhood, and, to a large extent, the entire ethos of Kashmiriyat.

While the men from Indianadministered-Kashmir have crossed over to Pakistan-administered-Kashmir to receive training in arms, and have come back to 'liberate' their motherland from India, the women have been at the forefront of protests and rallies, and have provided psycho-social support to their men folk. In turn, the men have been killed and the women have borne the brunt of it in the form of the most gruesome violations. 'Azaadi', however,

Epilogue Ă˜ 65 Ă— September 2009

remains a distant dream...

For the women of Kashmir, the impact of the tragedy has been doubly fatal, as they have not just borne the wrath of the conflict but have also been treated as objects of use and amusement, both by the militants and the Indian security forces. Over the years, the women have tried hard to douse the fires of the violence, simultaneously keeping the fires in their houses burning. Each has emerged a winner in her own right, though somewhat bruised and shattered.

The image of Kashmiri women has changed drastically over the last few decades. In the early Nineties, newspapers were splashed with images of burqa-clad women flocking the streets of Srinagar in protests for one thing or the other. For the numerous mothers, wives, sisters and daughters in Jammu and Kashmir,

C O L UMN Reports from Ground

negotiating space for their men-folk during the two-decade-long conflict has become a way of life, whether it is taking up the issue of missing sons and husbands or hiding militants in their homes. Kashmiri women have been targeted both by the militants as well as security forces, and have borne more than their share of the brunt of the political unrest.

Sexual exploitation has been a key feature in Kashmiri women's lives in the past 18 years. Indian security forces and militant forces in Kashmir have been using rape to punish, intimidate, coerce, humiliate, and degrade their female victims. The psychological toll of rape includes anxiety, depression, nightmares, social phobias, physical complaints, and post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

One of the impacts of the protracted armed conflict has been the increasing number of widows and halfwidows, and the shockingly increasing number of women who have been physically violated by the personnel of the armed forces. Thousands of women are going through an identity crisis owing to the phenomenon of enforced disappearances, which leads them to the status of half-widows (whose husband's death is not ascertained). For such women, each day begins with the hope of their men returning, and ends in despair. The armed conflict has also affected women physically.

In Kashmir's troubled history of the past 15 years, two villages have grabbed newspaper headlines but little by way of help out of their predicament. Both Dardpora and Kunan Poshpora fall in the border district of Kupwara, situated on the Line of Control in the north of the state. While Dardpora has the dubious distinction of being the 'Village of Widows' because there aren't many men left, Kunan Poshpora's plight came to the fore when its entire female

population was allegedly raped in the initial years of insurgency.

Dardpora, the village of widows, in Kupwara district, is nestled in the mountains, and is very close to the Line of Control (LoC) between India and Pakistan. Almost all the men-folk in the village have been killed either in fratricidal wars or by the Indian security forces in the early years of militancy. Those who haven't been killed have gone 'missing', and their

Thousands of women are going through an identity crisis owing to the phenomenon of enforced disappearances, which leads them to the status of halfwidows (whose husband's death is not ascertained).

For such women, each day begins with the hope of their men returning, and ends in despair. The armed conflict has also affected women physically.

wives are called 'half-widows'! What remains in this village is women and children. Widowhood has become the dominant marker of these women in Dardpora.

Needless to say, the widows are harassed by the security forces and the militants, not to mention the daily struggle of having to fend for themselves and their children. The Indian government does not provide any relief to half-widows before seven years from the date of disappearance of their

Epilogue Ă˜ 66 Ă— September 2009

men. During the seven-year waiting period, the women's rights to their husbands' property are often threatened.

Kunan Poshpora was raided on 2324 February 1990, by soldiers from the 4th Rajputana Rifles, during a counterinsurgency operation. Women were mass-raped, and the village was nicknamed as the 'village of raped women' after the incident got highlighted in the international media. Till date, most women from the village remain unmarried because of the stigma attached to this gruesome violation of a woman's body.

This is the village and the women on whom video films have been made, where numerous national and international teams have gone, where George Verghese conducted an investigation for the Press Council of India, spent 15 minutes, and concluded that no rape had taken place because the raped girls had been laughing. The Press Council of India dismissed the allegations of the victims, while their medical reports were withheld. The report said that when investigators went to Kunan Poshpora to find out if the mass rape had actually taken place, they found that all the women were giggling and laughing. This led them to believe that such a heinous crime like rape could not have been committed there, or else the women would not have been laughing!

The question of the future of raped women, widows and halfwidows presents a challenge to the Azaadi movement. These issues have not gained the attention of the leaders who seemed to be concerned about everything else. The civil society, too, leaves a lot to be desired. Though there is no lack of sympathy for Kashmiri women, but building a local support structure requires organized effort.

C O L UMN

History

History of Forts in Jammu Hills

Aerial view of Bahu Fort

F

PROF JIGAR MOHAMMED Author is Professor of History at University of Jammu. He is associated with Epilogue as Editorial Adviser on History of Jammu and Kashmir. He can be reached at jigar.mohammad@epilogue.in

orts were one of the most effective and popular components of the defence measures of India during ancient and medieval period. The construction of fort was understood one of the dominant features of the state formation and its strength. The archaeological remains of the different parts of India show that fort construction had become one of the main duties of the ruling class, since they exist in all states of ancient and medieval India. It could be either the Mauryan rulers such as Chndragupta Maurya or Ashoka of ancient India or the Mughal rulers of 16th and 17th century A.D., all of them treated forts

Epilogue Ă˜ 67 Ă— September 2009

construction and their maintenance as the most powerful measure of the defence of their own empire. Kautilya's Arthashastra records four types of forts such as water or river fort (audaka or nadi durga), mountain fort (Parvata Durga), desert fort (dhanvana durga) and forest fort (vana durga). Some other literature of the ancient India mention six to eight kinds of forts. The maintenance of the forts by the rulers of the early medieval India is mentioned by the Turkish historians of the Sultanate of Delhi. The Turkish historians' works show that they were very much impressed by the Rajput forts of the 12th and 13th centuries northern India. Hasan Nizami, a court historian of

C O L UMN History

Qutubuddin Aibak (1206-10) and Shamsuddin Iltutmish (1210-36) has all praise for the some of the Rajput forts of the north India. Describing the strength and attraction of Delhi fort on the eve of the Turkish invasion, Hasan writes, “ As the imperial flags (May God keep them aloft) reached Delhi, the first thing to be visible was the rampart of the fort, which, like the dignity of the king, rose higher than the top of the Saturn, while to foundations were as strong as the basis of the great empire.

The Engineer of the reason was unable to attempt its mensuration, and observers of eyes had not seen the like of it in the length and breadth of the whole world. From its top the condition of the cluster of Pleiades in the casket of the skiy could be seen, and the true form of the chess-piecesof the stars on the white chess-board on the firmament could be observed at close quarters.” It is important to mention that when Shibuddin Muhammad Ghori attacked Delhi its ruler was Prithiviraj Chauhan.

The fort of Meerut attracted the attention of Hasan and it strength inspired him to pen down its military significance. Describing its strategical importance and the Turkish imvasion on it Hasan Nizami writes: “…the fort of Merut…is the famous fort of this celebrated city, well known for the firmness of its foundation and the strength of its pillars, a company of soldiers (Turkish), reputed for their matchless valour and remarkable devotion to duty started the hostilities.

Awe-struck by the valour of the king in the battle-field, the inmates of the fort found themselves in a miserable condition, and when it came to actual fighting they realised that they were utterly helpless before the royal troops.

Thus was captured the impregnable fort, an inaccessible stronghold, the ramprts of which firm and solid like a

lofty mountain, and surrounded by a wide moat boundless like an ocean, its ramparts were high that even fast flying falcon could not soar over them, and its battlements were invisible to the naked eye of someone watching them from the ground.” The forts of Kol, Gwalior and Kalinjer are also find huge space in Hasan Nizami's work.9 The contemporary sources of both the Sultanate of Delhi and Mughal empire given considerable space in terms of their location, their use for security purpose and historical background and maintenance.

Moreover the ruling dynasties of medieval India treated the construction of the fort as one of their prerogatives and parts of their cultural life. For security measures the Sultans of Delhi generally repaired and constructed forts on major routes. Sultan Ghiyasuddin Balban built a fort at Gopalgir to strengthen security of Delhi against Meos menace.10 Similarly, he built forts at Kampil, Patiali and Bhojpur to supress the robbers and rebels.More importantly, Balban got the fort of Lahore reconstructed to defend north-west frontier the Mangol menace.12 Abul Fazl's Ain-i-Akbari records the forts of the Mughal empire at the Pargana level. It is important to mention that the sources of the Mughal empire not only mention the forts builts by the Mughal ruling class, but also built by the local rulers. It is well establilshed fact that Punjab was the region through which generally the foreign invaders, particularly Cental Asian, Iranian and Afghans, endagered the security of India during the Sultanate and Mughal period. Since different trade routes of Punjab were instrumental in maintaining trade commerce between India and foreign countries, the rulers like Sher Shah and Mughal emperors took various measures

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to keep these route secure. One of the most effective security measures was the construction new fort and maintenance of the old forts.

However, in the Jammu hills the construction and maintenance of forts were understood as the most effective means of both the maintenance the sovereignty of the ruling king and maintenance of law and order in the region. Since the states of Jammu hills were closely linked with both the Punjab and Kashmir, their rulers were conscious of the security measures of their states. It is evident from the fact that the modern Jammu region was studded with the forts during the medieval period. Recently, Shiv Nirmohi, a historian Jammu, made a survey of the forts of Jammu and produced detailed study on the forts of Jammu. .

The remains of the forts of Jammu hills show that the ruling dynasties of the region had associated the construction and maintenance of the forts with their socio-political life.

They treated forts as symbol of their their political grandeur. Though during the medieval period all the ruling dynasties of India treated forts as the prime mover of their military activities, the existence of large number of forts in Jammu hill states establish that besides military strength of a state, forts were the major architectural activities of the region. Shiv Nirmohi's Duggar ke Durg consists of the description of 128 forts.

It is understood that construction of the forts became a major security measure in Jammu hills from early eleventh century onwards. Frederic Drew witnessed a series of the forts in the Jammu hills in the nineteenth century.

His findings show that most of the forts of Jammu hills were constructed by the indigenous ruling dynasties. According to him, “All over the low hills, on both

C O L UMN History

sides of the Chinab, they (forts) are in extraordinary number. They were built at the time when each little tract had its own ruler, and each ruler had to defend himself against his neighbour. These forts are commonly on the summit of some rocky hill, with naturally scarped face; by their position, and by the way they were planned, they are well protected against escalcade. Though now (second half of the 19th century) they have all come into the hands of one ruler, they are still kept up, that is so far that a small garrison-may be only of a dozen men- is kept in each. Some of the most kown are Mangla, on the Jhelam; Mangal Dev, near Naushahra; and Troch, near Kotli; these are each on the summit on a rocky preciptous hill most difficult of access.” Frederic Drew's mention is concerned with the areas of east and west of the Chinab river, which consisted of Basoli or Bilawar, Mankot or R a m k o t , R a m n a g a r, A k h n u r, BhimbarRajouri ant Punch etc. Though history of these forts in chronological order is not known because of the absence of indigenous historical source in the hills, non-indigenous sources, particularly Mughal sources, attest the historiocity of these sources.

It is an established fact that the Mangol invader Timur invaded Jammu in 1398-99. When he wrote his autobiography or Memoirs he incorported some places, structures and topographical features. It is important to mention that his autobiography is the first literary source which mention the nomenclature Jammu. When Timur invaded he Jammu he found a fort in Jammu in which the ruling king of Jammu resided. This shows that Jammu had a strong tradition of the maintenance of the fort during the medieval period. For, Hutchison and Vogel the oldest fort of Jammu was the Bahu fort, which was

built before eleventh century. The Mughal sources from Akbar's period onwards give information about Jammu hill forts in better way than other sources.

Abul Fazl records some of the forts existing in Jammu hills. Jammu fort has been shown as the biggest fort of the region. He mentions Jammu fort constructed on the top of the hill with huge army. This fort is shown with 1000 cavalry and 20000 infantry. Manhas are shown as the rulers of Jammu.22 Abul Fazl's description of the establishment of the Mughal sovereignty in Jammu under Akbar shows that Jammu fort was treated as the main source of the defence of the state. Consequently, the Mughal army besieged the Jammu fort to compel the ruler of Jammu for the acceptance of the Mughal sovereignty.23 Mankot state of Jammu hills has been shown with four forts by the Ain-iAkbari.24 It also shows that there was 30 cavalry and 1200 infantry soldiers in Mankot state, and the ruling class belonged to the Manhas clan of the Rajput.25 Mankot is known as Ramkot in modern period. It ia understood that the ruling dynasty of Mankot was an offshoot from Jammu and it started to be known as Mankotia.It is said that Manak-Dev, a descendant of the ruling family of Jammu founded the Mankot state and build a fort there. Jasrota was another important state of Jammu hills which finds mention in the Ain-i-Akbari.

It is shown with 400 cavalry and 5000 infantry soldiers and Malanhas (Manhas) as the ruling family. Abul Fazl menions the existence of a fort in Jasrota in the Akbarnama. Though Abul Fazl mentions it a small fort, the remains of a this fort show that it was a big fort constructed by its own ruler. Since Jammu hill states were buffer states between Kashmir and Punjab, the Mughal emperors were very much concerned with the security

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of these states. It is evident from their policy of making alliance with the Rajput rulers of Jammu hill states from Akbar's period onwards. One of the most effective security measures of the Mughals was to construct forts at strategic places of the Jammu hills. It is an established fact that generally the Mughal emperors visited Kashmir from the period of its annexation to the Mughal empire in 1586-87 onwards.

They followed the route of Rajouri and Punch. To strengthen the security of this route Akbar constructed a fort at Naushahra. Alberuni's account shows that a fort of Loharakotta was built in Punch by its rulers in early medieval period. The fort of Loharkotta is known to be gate way to Kashmir during the medieval period.

The tradition of constructing forts for defence purpose and as a symbol of political grandeur were continued by the rulers of the Jammu hill stated till nineteenth century. It is understood that the fort of Mahoregarh was also built during fifteenth or sixteenth century.

The fort of Kapurgarh was built in the sixteenth century by Raja Kapur Dev (1530-71), the ruler of Jammu. The fort of Dansal was built by one of the sons of Raja Kapur Dev during the sixteenth century.

The fort of Samba or Nandini Durg was built in early medieval period. The fort of Lakhanpur also belongs to the medieval period. It is understood to have been built by its ruler Sangram Dev during the 14th century. According to Hutchinson and Vogel, “The alternative name (of Lakhanpur) was Thain as found in some of the records, from the name of a strong fort on a lofty cliff overhanging the right bank of the Ravi, where the Rajas seem often to have resided.” The Ain-i-Akbari mentions Lakhanpur as Lakhnor. The forts of Bilawar and Bhadu were constructed

C O L UMN History

during medieval period. Though exact dates of their construction are not availvable, these states find mention in the Ain-i-Akbari. According to it, Bhadu's military strength was very small. It consisted of 30 cavalry and 1200 infantry. Its zamindars belonged to Jat and Bandwal castes. The military strength of Bilawar state was also small.

During the sixteenth century 50 cavalry and 3000 infantry were maintained by its ruler.40The fort of Sunderikot in Bilawar Tahsil, Kathua district seems to have been built in the 17th century.

According to the folk tradition, it was built by the rulers of Bhadwal for the shelter of the people during the natural calamity.41 The fort of Kohag or Mandali was built in the late sixteenth or early 17th century. It was built by the ruler of the Bandralta state for the protection of the frontier of his state. The fort of Thial in Tahsil Ramnagar, district Udhampur, was constructed in the last decade the sixteenth century.

According to an inscription of a well, situated outside the fort, it was built in Samvat 1541. A oral tradition tells that it was built by one Thial Singh, a jagirdar of Bandralta state. The fort of Landar was built in the village Landar, in modern district of Udhampur. It is understood that it was built in the seventeenth century by the Butiyal kings. Therefore, it is also called the fort of Bhutiyal. The mention of the Bhutiyal state is found in the Ain-iAkbari. According to it, Bhutiyal state was situated in sarkar of the Bari Doab, Suba Lahore. Its ruling class has been mentioned as the Bhutiyalah. Its military strength was 30 cavalry and 1000 infantry. The fort of Bhimgarh, situated in Riasi state, about sixty four k.m. from Jammu, was built by Bhim, a local chief of the area during medieval period. It was used very effectively for military purpose by the rulers of Jammu

up to nineteenth century. Mian Gulab Singh contributed to the expansion of this fort and constructed an entrance gate and a wall for making it stronger and more secured in the early nineteenth century. The fort of Sanalkot at village Pauni, district Udhampur was constucted during early medieval period. It is known as one of the oldest forts of the Jammu hills.

According to the folk tradition it was built by a king Shalbahan. Ganeshdas Badehra quotes an oral tradition about the coming of Raja Shalbahan to Pauni from Sialkot. According to it, “…during the last days of his life Raja Shalbahan left Sialkot and came to the hills near Pauni and founded a city on the spur of a mountain on the bank of Chinab river and named it Sanalkot. He took his residence on the peak of that mountain.” The fort of Battal seems to have been constructed during the 17th century.

The fort of Kishtwar was one of the most famous and oldest forts of the Jammu hills. It is understood that it was built during the seventh or eighth century A.D . by the successors of the Raja Kahn Sen49, the founder of the Kishtwar state.

Kalhan, the author of the Rajatarangini, mentions Kishtwar as Kashtvata. Abul Fazl mentions Kishtwar as one of the important regions of the 16 th century India. 50 The Mughal empreror Jahangir was very impressed with the expertise of the Kishtwaris in military affairs and the popularity of its ruler. He found that the Kishtwar army used its topographical features, specially hills and rivers for defending its territory against the outside invasion. Even Jahangir's army received tough resistence from the Kishtwaris when it attacked Kishtwar for the establishment of the Mughal sovereignty there. For Jahangir, the Kishtwaris used both rivers (Maru and

Epilogue Ø 70 × September 2009

Chinab) and hills of Kishtwar to check the advancement of the Mughal army.

Jahangir also appreciates the specilization of the Kishtwaris in rope bridge building, which was very useful for defence purpose. Regarding the expertise of the Kishtwaris in rope building Jahangir writes, “From the… river (the Maru) to the Chinab, which strong support to these unfortunate people (Kishtwaris), is a distance of two bow-shots, and on the bank of Chenab there is a lofty hill. The crossing of the water is a difficult matter, and, with a view to the coming and going of people on foot, they attach strong ropes, and place planks of the width of a cubit between two ropes, and fasten one rope's and fasten one rope's Zampa in the language of the people of the hill country.”

The forts of Jammu hills not only strengthened the military power of the states concerned, but they also became instrumental in the flourishment of the building industries.

Moreover, with the construction of the forts, the rulers of Jammu hills enhanced the historical importance of their states. Though ruling dynasties emerged and declined, the forts constructed by them speak of their existence and constructive activities.

The remains of these forts in Jammu region tell the story of the security measures taken by the ruling classes for the protection of the interests of their own states. These forts are living heritage of the Jammu region. These forts also tell that the ruling classes of Jammu were followers of the work culture. The existence of these forts establishes that construction was the major trend of the Jammu hills during ancient and medieval period, obstruction and destruction were not appreciated socio-politically in Jammu hills.

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DIP/J-2881

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Dt. : 13/8/09

Classified Mart

Epilogue

REACH OUT TO DECISION MAKERS

because there is more to know

JAMMU AND KASHMIR

ACADEMY OF ART, CULTURE AND LANGUAGES

Sher-e-Kashmir

University of Agricultural Sciences & Technology of Jammu Administrative Block, Main Campus, Chatha (Jammu)

Lalmandi, Srinagar 0194-2310509/2311521

ADDENDUM

NOTICE FOR EXPRESSION OF INTEREST

It is notified that the last date for receipt of applications advertised vide Notification No. 01 (Est) of 2009 Dt : 17-072009 is extended upto 4th of September, 2009

The Academy of Art, Culture and Languages, Govt. of Jammu and Kashmir, intends to construct a grant Integrated Cultural Centre featuring state-of-the art cultural facilities, showcasing cultural heritage of the State which will include auditorium, art gallery, museum, meeting hall, performance and dance space, theater sculpture garden, handicrafts display room, canteen etc.

The Academy calls/seeks for expression of interest from the individuals/Consultants/ Agencies having considerable experience in the field for designing blue print of the cultural centre. The consultant/agencies will have to prepare two blue prints for the Integrated Centre; one for the existing buildings and one for a new centre on. The last date for receipt of expression of interest is 5th of September, 2009. The consultant will be selected by the President of the Academy (Chief Minister of the J&K).

Sd/Zafar Iqbal Manhas Secretary

CLARIFICATION Following clarifications are hereby made in relation to post advertised vide Notification No.: 01(est) of 2009 Dt : 17-072009 1) Candidates in any discipline of Agriculture/Horticulture/ Forestry/Home Science/Agri. Engineering Co-ordinator appeared at Sr. No. 4 of the said notification.

2) Candidates having UG &/or PG degree in the discipline or Bio-technology can also apply for the post of Associate Professor / Senior Scientist and Assistant Professor / Junior Scientist / Subject Matter Specialist in the discipline of Plant Breeding & Genetics appeared at Sr. No. 3(2) and 5(2). By order.

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