Round The States

New Delhi, 7 August 2008

All Party Meet Talks Peace

THE J&K EMBROGLIO CONTINUES

By Insaf

Over a month and Jammu and Kashmir continues to be aflame. Singed by the Amarnath land transfer controversy which has taken a toll of 15 lives and left scores injured. Sadly, it took all of 37 long days before the Manmohan Singh-led Central Government responded to the violence by calling an all-Party meeting to break the impasse. True, the 38-odd Parties issued a joint appeal to bridge the Hindu-Muslim divide and called for the restoration of peace and normalcy. All underscored the need to de-communalise the situation which was adversely impacting on the secular fabric of the nation. Tragically, however, this failed to mask the sharp differences over the 100-acre forest land for the Amarnath pilgrims. Both the Kashmir-centric Parties --- Mufti Sayeed’s PDP and Farooq Abdullah’s National Conference opposed the BJP’s demand for restoration of the land to the Amarnath Shrine Board and recall of the Governor NN Vohra. Stating that till date the psyche of the Valley had always been considered, and it was high time to acknowledge that Jammu too had a psyche.

Worse, the Army and police have failed to quell the protesting mobs and contain the peoples’ anger despite blocking all SMS services. Amidst the ongoing violence the National Highway to the Valley has been blocked by the protestors leading to an economic blockade. Wherein the Valley is starved of fuel, food and civil supplies. Besides, all members of the Amarnath Shrine Board have resigned to facilitate the reconstitution of the board to elect a new Chairman and induct respected Hindu leaders. Adding fuel to the raging controversy, the separatist leaders in the Valley have refused to part with an inch of the land. However, a ray of hope has emerged with the Amarnath Yatra Sangharsh Samiti scaling down its demand and willing to hold talks with the all-parties delegation. It remains to be seen whether the olive branch held out by the all-Parties meet will bear fruit and lead to secular harmony.

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Rumours Kills Over 150 In HP Temple

If Amarnath ignited violence in J&K, it took only a rumour of a landslide to snuff out over 150 lives and left nearly 100 injured at the famous Naina Devi temple in Himachal Pradesh on Sunday last. A majority of those dead were women and children. Located about 160 kms from the capital Shimla, over 20,000-25,000 devotees from neighbouring States like Punjab, Haryana, Delhi and elsewhere had crowded the temple, when devotees coming down said that bolders were falling from the hill-side triggered off a stampede. The Naina Devi temple attracts a large number of devotees during the Sawan Navratras’, the first nine days of the Hindu month of Shravan. Devotees believe that it is God’s wrath which has revisited the shrine after 30 years. Predictably, the security agencies were caught napping when the incident occurred. Had they been more alert, perhaps the tragedy could have been averted.

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Chhattisgarh Long Wait For Power

The travails of Naxalite –hit Chhattisgarh continue. Already fighting with its back against the wall in the five most affected militants districts, the State Government will have to wait a while before these areas are provided with electricity. No matter that it would make the security forces task much easier to tackle the menace. Notwithstanding, the Home and Rural Development Ministries favouring implementation of the Rajiv Gandhi Rural Electrification Yojana on a priority basis, the Power Grid Corporation of India shot these projects down as it entailed  high costs of over Rs 843 crore. Clearly, “lead kindly light” is not a part of the ‘Power Ministry’s’vocabulary!

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Puducherry Government Faces Revolt

Miniscule Puducherry is in the throes of another type of “power” crisis. Wherein five Congress Minister have revolted against their Chief Minister Rangaswamy. All work has come to a standstill as the Ministers are busy shuttling between their Union Territory and New Delhi to demand that the Party High Command change the CM forthwith. Their grouse? Only the Chief Minister’s constituency is being singled out for all development activities and employment opportunities. Recall, Rangaswamy won a mammoth 90.23 per cent of all valid votes for the second time after the Congress-DMK combine garnered 17 of the 30 seats in the 2006 Assembly elections. It remains to be seen who will have the last word.

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Rain God Keeps Away From Kerala

Kerala will always remember 2008. The year when it faced the worst monsoon season in nearly 30 years. This would have a telling impact on the State’s industrial and agricultural sectors. Worse, the water levels in major reservoirs have almost reached the dead–storage level. Consequently, a 25 per power cent cut has been imposed in the State. The only upside is that the unforeseen dry spell has not dampened the seasonal tourism. All have their fingers crossed when the rain God will “shower” his blessings on God’s own country.

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Shortage of University Seats in Jharkhand

Jharkhand is facing an acute drought in the education sector. It has more students and less colleges to accommodate them. Consider: of the 3.39 lakh students who took the class X examinations, 2.94 lakh passed the test However, the number of seats available in the 301 undergraduate colleges of the State’s three universities is less than 2.50 lakh. This has resulted in students who have been unable to get admission turn violent and beat up college principles. Worse, the Madhu Koda-led State Government has neither a short-term nor a long-term plan to deal with the problem. Despite the Jharkhand Academic Council (JAC) exhorting the teachers to work the evening shift, they have refused to do so. With the State facing electricity shortage in the evening, the proposal has remained only on paper. Even as students run from pillar to post to avail education.

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Orissa’s Compensation For Corps Fighting Terror

The security forces in Orissa have got a new impetus to fight hard against terror. Thanks to the State Government doubling the compensation amount for policemen killed and injured during anti-Maoists operation. This has not only boosted the morale of the forces but the officials who perform well would receive a gallantry medal from the State Government with a cash reward of Rs one lakh. These sops come less than a month after the Naveen Patnaik Government announced special family pensions, homestead land and a job to the next of kin of policemen killed in anti-terror operations. Will the other States heed? ---INFA

 (Copyright, India News And Feature Alliance)