Srinagar, Jun 24: The Divisional Commissioner Kashmir Baseer Ahmad Khan today directed concerned Deputy Commissioners and officers to gear-up men and machinery for the hassle-free conduct of Amarnath Yatra-2019 so that pilgrims do not face any inconvenience.

The Divisional Commissioner made these directions while reviewing the arrangements put in place for the forthcoming Shri Amarnath Yatra-2019 through Pahalgam and Baltal routes which will commence from July 01 to August 15, 2019.

Deputy Commissioners of Anantnag, Pulwama, Kulgam and Ganderbal briefed the meeting regarding the fool proof Amarnath Yatra arrangements made by them in their respective districts.

The Divisional Commissioner took detailed review of issuance of bar & colour coded passes to employees, erection of signages on National Highway and Yatra track, additional accommodation, medical camps with doctors, para-medic  staff & Medicines, oxygen booths, recovery vans, additional chopper service in a fleet, Bio-Toilets, pitching of tents, mobile & internet connectivity, storage of essential commodities, drinking water and electricity services with back up facilities, erection of shelter

sheds, disaster management, Traffic plan and other necessary facilities for yatra pilgrims.

The Divisional Commissioner asked concerned officers to conduct safety audit of all yatra accommodations and essential commodities on priority basis.

Deputy Commissioner Pulwama was directed to monitor the status of National Highway on daily basis, right from Jawahar Tunnel to Baltal point, till the completion of the Amarnath Yatra-2019.

Further, Khan directed DC Pulwama to constitute teams which would ascertain and report the road condition and the facilities along the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway and the trekking routes leading up to the Holy Cave.

Deputy Commissioners of Anantnag and Ganderbal were directed to monitor the condition of yatra track round the clock and send the report to the Divisional Commissioners office.       

The Divisional Commissioner stressed upon the officers to make sure that all necessary arrangements are made well before in time besides the need for close coordination among different agencies for the successful conduct of Amarnath Yatra-2019.

The meeting was attended by Deputy Commissioner Pulwama Dr Syed Abid Rashid Shah, Additional Commissioner Kashmir Tasaduq Hussain Mir, Chief Engineers of R&B and Mughal Road, RTO Kashmir, Manager NHAI, Director FCS&CA, Divisional Manager FCI, Deputy Director Tourism, Deputy Manager RAMKY and other concerned officers were present in the meeting whereas Deputy Commissioners of Anantnag, Ganderbal and Kulgam participated the meeting through video conferencing.

Srinagar, June 24:  National Commission for Safai Karamcharies Manhar Valjibhai Zala on Monday put the Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) on notice after  Safai Karamcharies complained that they have been deprived of the basic rights by the authorities.

Interacting with the daily wagers of SMC on the first day of his three day tour, Zala asked the Safaikaramcharies to notify the Commission about their problems.  

Zala was shocked to know that provident fund of Safaikaramcharies is not being deducted from their salaries which he said is a grave violation of the labor laws.

Chairman also learnt that there is no life insurance policy scheme available for the Safai Karamcharies. Zala enquired from the chief medical officer Dr Talat Jabeen whether periodic medical checkup of Safai Karamcharies is being conducted in the SMC. He was surprised to know that that there was no specific medical checkup being conducted for the Safai Karamcharies.

The Commission also raised the issue of allotment of flats to the Safai Karamcharies.  Joint commissioner of SMC Syed Abul Qasim said the SMC has allotted land to the Safai Karamcharies but the order is to be sanctioned by the district magistrate where the file is withheld.

Zala advised the officials that the interests of families of Safai Karamcharis should also be protected.

An official spokesman said  Zala directed the concerned officials that the Safai Karamcharis should be made aware about the schemes being implemented by the Central government and proper grievance redressal mechanism should be executed to look into their grievances.

Earlier, Chairman Safaikaramcharis Workers Union, Ghulam Mohammad Solina complained that not a single centrally sponsored scheme for Safai Karamcharies has been implemented by SMC. 

“We demand that there should be a proper implementation of the schemes of central government so that our workers also get benefited,” he said.

The workers complained that they receive meager salaries which are not enough to sustain their families in Kashmir. “Our workers clean the city every day. We are not entitled to any weekly or monthly off. There should be a weekly off for us  akin to other government officials,” one of the workers at the event said.

Srinagar, Jun 24: Advisor to Governor, K Skandan, today chaired the concluding session of a workshop here to discuss recommendations over the implementation of hi-Speed internet connectivity to Gram Panchayats in the state.

While chairing the valedictory session of the two-day workshop on ‘Extension of Broadband and Internet Connectivity to all Gram Panchayats’ of the State under BharatNet here, the Advisor suggested a hybrid model having both constituents of Bandwidth hiring (OPEX Model) and Fiber Laying and Owning (CAPEX Model).

He said that J&K for being a strategic State can start with the service delivery and move on to the infrastructure thing and then move on the model of owning the infrastructure and subsequently it would be beneficial for the State in the long run.

The Advisor informed the workshop that the State Government would send its proposal to Department of Telecommunications (DoT) at the earliest for approval.

He said the State will also take in consideration the experiences from other states while finalizing the project for Panchayat Internet Connectivity.

Speaking on the occasion, Secretary DoT, Aruna Sundararajan said the Government of India would support whatever model the state government chooses, adding the two options (OPEX and CAPEX) presented during a presentation were with a realistic estimation and also highlighted the pros and cons of the project.

“We are committed to fully supporting the Govt of J&K on whatever model they take. The State Govt will have to make that evaluation, but in case of J&K, we are willing to support whatever is the best in the interest of the state Govt and whatever they decide we will support that. And we will also support it in terms of funding, technical capabilities among other things,” she added.

The panel discussion session was attended by Principal Secretary Industries and Commerce (Additional charge of Administrative Secretary, Information Technology Department/CEO JaKeGA), Navin Kumar Choudhary, Secretary Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Sheetal Nanda, MD, JKIT Infrastructure Corporation and MD SIDCO, Ravinder Kumar, Director Operational BBNL, VP Singh, DDG (Special Projects) Department of Telecom, GoI, Deepak Chanduka, Senior DDG, Department of Technology, Rakesh Kumar Dubey,  CMD BBNL, Survesh Singh, Chief Engineer PDD, Qazi Hashmat, Project Manager, JaKeGA, IT Department, Irfan Rather, representatives of telecom operators and other concerned.

Earlier, Project Manager, JaKeGA, IT Department, Irfan Rather gave a detailed presentation about different aspects of the project like Phase-I and Phase-II, besides costs and models to implement the project in the State.

He said that the project will pave way for rolling out of any kind of bandwidth intense e-governance services at the Panchayat level.