Says corruption free governance, inclusive development, dialogue with people his priority

Precious Kashmir News
Srinagar, Aug 7:  Former Union Minister Manoj Sinha on Friday took oath as the second Lt Governor of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.

The Chief Justice of J&K Justice Gita Mital administered the oath of office and secrecy to Sinha in an impressive, but simple function held at Raj Bhawan here this afternoon.

Earlier, Chief Chief Secretary B V R Subrahmanyam read out his warrant of appointment issued by the President Ram Nath Kovind.

Sinha, a former Union Minister, took the oath in English in the name of God in presence of senior civil, police and security force officials.

Sinha was appointed as the Lt Governor of J&K after G C Murmu resigned from the post late on Wednesday evening.

After taking oath Lieutenant Governor, Manoj Sinha said that his priority would be zero tolerance for corruption, taking forward the developmental initiatives launched during the last one year and establishing dialogue with the people of Jammu and Kashmir.

While interacting with the media immediately after the oath ceremony, the Lt Governor said that Jammu and Kashmir embarked on a new journey on 5th of August 2019, when it was fully integrated with the Union of India, ending a long era of isolation, discrimination and lack of development. Because of its geographical, climatic, cultural and ethnic diversity, Jammu & Kashmir is like a colourful bouquet and truly called the crown of India.

He said that he would take the developmental agenda forward without discrimination with any section or region. The people of Jammu and Kashmir have suffered a lot in the past. The new dawn promises hope, optimism, and bright future for them.

“J&K has also achieved tremendous results in some of the programmes and schemes during the last one year, I have learnt. I am hopeful that I will be able to carry forward the agenda of development, inclusiveness and restoration of peace in the UT of J&K, which has been initiated in the last one year,” he added.

The Lt Governor further said that he would like to see Jammu & Kashmir free from militancy and isolation. “We will work within the framework of the Constitution of India to take J&K towards inclusive development and peace. We will also initiate dialogue with the masses to have a better understanding of their problems and issues, and will try to address the same”, he said in a reply to one of the questions.

I assure the people of J&K that I will try to come up to their expectations and take J&K forward on the vision and mission of making this UT a model to emulate, he added.

Besides other dignitaries, Dr. Jitendra Singh, MoS PMO, Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Department of Atomic Energy, Space, Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region attended the oath ceremony.

Srinagar, Aug 7: Jammu and Kashmir, which was princely border state and acceded to Union of India in 1947 after independence, witnessed Sadr-e-Riyasat in 1952 to Lt Governor in 2019, when Centre divided the state into two Union Territories (UT) after abrogating Article 370 and Article 35 A.

Since the eruption of militancy in late 1989, Satya Pal Malik was the only politician who was appointed as Governor of the State in 2018 before he was shifted after the state became UT. All other Governors in the state were retired Army, IPS and IAS officers. However, Manoj Sinha became the second politician to be the Lt Governor of the UT after he took oath of office here on Friday. Both Malik and Sinha were affiliated with BJP from Uttar Pradesh (UP).

Senior Congress leader and former Union minister Dr Karan Singh was the first Sadr-e-Riyasat (President) of Jammu and Kashmir from November 17, 1952 to March 30, 1965, when National Conference (NC) founder Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah was Prime Minister. However, Sheikh was dismissed and later jailed in 1953 and another NC leader Bakshi Ghulam Mohammad became Prime Minister.

After Bakshi was unseated in 1965 when majority MLAs left NC led by him and joined Congress. Later the then Congress government headed by G M Sadiq in the state changed the name of Sadar-e-Riyasat and Prime Minister to Governor and Chief Minister respectively.
However, Dr Singh was again appointed as first Governor and Sadiq as first Chief Minister of the State in 1965.

Dr Singh was in office as Governor from March 30, 1965 to May 15, 1967 followed by Bhagwan Sahay from May 15, 1967 to July 3,1973. Lakshmi Kant Jha was Governor from July 3, 1973  to February 22, 1981, Braj Kumar Nehru February 22, 1981 to April 26 1984,  Jagmohan April 26, 1984 to July 1989.
Gen (Retd)  K V Krishna Rao, was the first person with Army background appointed as Governor from July 1989 to January 19 1990, just six months before he was again replaced by Jagmohan despite opposition by then Chief Minister Dr Farooq Abdullah. Jagmohan’s second term from January 19, 1990 to May 26, 1990 lasted five months after massive killings and exodus of Kashmir Pandits . He was replaced by IPS officer who headed RAW Girish Chandra Sexana from May 26, 1990 to March 12, 1993 when militancy in the valley was at its peak.

Again K V Krishna Rao was appointed as Governor from March 12 , 1993 to May 2, 1998. It was during the second tenure that militancy was controlled to some extent and first Assembly elections were held in the state in 1996, when NC, promising restoration of greater autonomy, got absolute majority.

G C Sexana (IPS) was again appointed Governor for the second term from May 2, 1998 to June 4, 2003. He was replaced by Lt General (Retd) Srinivas Kumar Sinha from June 4, 2003 to June 25, 2008.

Another IAS officer Narinder Nath Vohra was Governor of the state from June 25, 2008 to August 23, 2018.

BJP leader from Uttar Pradesh (UP), first politician Satya Pal Malik was appointed Governor from August 23, 2018 to October 30, 2019. It was during his term under Governor rule Centre scrapped Article 370, 35 A and divided the state into two Union Territories (UTs)—Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.

After the downgrading the state into UT, G C Murmu, a Gujrat cadre IAS officer, became the first Lt Governor of J&K in October last year. However, he was asked to resign on August 5, when BJP was celebrating abrogation of special status and opposition as black day.

 BJP, Apni Party leaders turn up

Srinagar, Aug 7: National Conference and Peoples Democratic Party MPs on Friday stayed away from swearing-in ceremony of Lieutenant Governor Manoj Kumar Sinha, which took place in Srinagar.

Sources told KNO that none of the MPs from National Conference and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) attended the function held at Raj Bhavan here. “All MPs of NC and lone PDP Rajya Sabha MP Fayaz Ahmad Mir stayed away from the function, “they said, adding that expelled PDP MP Nazir Ahmad Laway attended the function.

Laway was expelled last year by the party for attending swearing -in ceremony of Girish Chandra Murmu on October 31, 2019 when he took oath as first LG of J&K UT.

According to sources, top BJP leaders of J&K including Union Minister of State Jitendra Singh, Kavinder Gupta, Nirmal Singh, Ravinder Raina, Ashok Koul and Sofi Yosouf were in attendance.

Three politicians from Apni Party- Ghulam Hassan Mir, Rafi Ahmad Mir and Muhammad Ashraf Mir- were also present there. (KNO)

Irfan A Mir

Srinagar, Aug 7:  BJP National General Secretary Ram Madhav Friday hinted that appointment of LG Manoj Sinha will pave way for resumption of political process in J&K.

Madhav said that replacement of Girish Chandra Murmu should not be seen as bureaucratic versus politician issue. There was a need of some political acumen personality to be at helm who will pave way for carrying out political activities in J&K.

“Manoj Sinha is a political figure who has served as minister during Modi’s 1.0 rule. All Governors from Jagmohan to Murmu have done tremendous work in J&K. Time has come for political process to resume in J&K and Sinha can better understand the need of political exercise”, Madhav said.

He said Sinha will carry forward the mission of his predecessors to its logical conclusion. “His appointment will provide comfort to local politics as BJP also wishes political process to resume in J&K”, Madhav said.

He added, “Once process of delimitation will culminate, the reins of local government will be handed over to local politicians”.

Asked how it is possible to resume political activities in J&K in absence of leadership who are still either imprisoned in jails or kept under house detention, Madhav said all leaders are roaming freely and enjoying every service.

“I am surprised why political leaders don’t resume political activities in J&K when they are roaming in New Delhi, using Twitter, Facebook, WhatsApp etc. They have been released months back”, the BJP leader said and added, “What is stopping them from taking forward political activities?”.

Lashing out on mainstream political parties for trying to foment trouble on Article 370, Madhav said every citizen of the country including people of J&K have accepted the abrogation of Article 370 by heart.

“Since Article 370 was incorporated in Constitution, enough water had been flown till its abrogation. It was hollow inside but local politicians used it for hoodwinking people for political gains. By its annulment, we ended separatism in the Valley. Every citizen of the country supported of our decision”, he asserted.

The BJP leader that his party  is committed to take J&K to new heights.

He said instead of saying what we have given to people of J&K, we should listen what they are saying? “They want violence free J&K. They don’t want to hit the streets for protests,” Madhav said.

Hitting out to mainstream political parties who are demanding restoration of special status of J&K, the BJP leader said that those threaten for resistance should join Hurriyat. He urged political parties to represent people in true sense and speak on developmental issues instead of issuing threats of resistance, stone pelting etc.

About return of displaced Kashmiri Pandits, he said that when BJP came into power we took concrete steps for their return. “Soon after BJP came into power, party started discussions with concerned stakeholders. We ensured job reservations for their youth. As we know militancy is still haunting Valley, there are security concerns in their return and it is our top priority to bring the community to their homes. We will keep our full concentration on their return as Article 370 has gone now”, Madhav said. (KNS)

>Exhorts the officers to make health care system of J&K best in the country

>Implement best practices in people centric governance, engage youth in productive activities

> Work on Poverty alleviation, upliftment of all the sections of the society

>Use technology and innovative ideas to bring efficiency in the system

Precious Kashmir News
Srinagar, Aug 7: Spelling out the contours of his model of governance, the newly appointed Lieutenant Governor, Manoj Sinha today stressed on Zero Tolerance for Corruption, promotion of youth centric programs and policies, reaching out to the masses, strengthening of connectivity in rural areas, robust health care system, modernization of capital cities of Jammu and Srinagar, early completion of languishing projects, redressal of public grievances and improving public service delivery system.

He was chairing a high level meeting with Administrative Secretaries of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir here at Civil Secretariat, Srinagar.

Poverty alleviation and upliftment of all the sections of the society through livelihood programmes is the prime agenda of the present Government towards achieving the ultimate goal of equitable development, he added.

The Lt Governor also called for restoration of traditional and old crafts which have huge market demand. He passed the directions for the revival of old abandoned projects to give development its new dimension.

On tourism promotion, he asked the officers to take comprehensive measures to revive the lakes and other tourist hotspots to add to the tourism avenues of the region.

He observed that the people of J&K have high hopes from the Government and called for taking all requisite measures on various fronts for the public welfare of the people to meet the aspirations of the people.

Direct all your actions and energies towards fulfilling the ultimate objective of development envisaged by our Hon’ble Prime Minister through the slogan ‘Sabka Sath Sabka Vikas aur Sabka Vishwas’, the Lt Governor asked the officers.

Focusing on the youth, the Lt Governor noted that youth would be one of the priorities of his government and asked the concerned officers to create best sports infrastructure, besides coming out with youth centric programs to engage them in productive activities.

He expressed satisfaction over the progress made under Jal Jeevan Mission for providing piped water supply (Har Ghar Nal se Jal) to every household well ahead of envisaged completion date of National Mission.

The Lt Governor exhorted the concerned officers to make health care system of J&K best in the country. He further stressed on improving health services delivery to provide quality and accessible healthcare services to the people of J&K.

He also called for bringing suitable changes in the Education policy Job Oriented education and make committed efforts towards promoting industry and enterprise sector in the UT.

He advised the Administrative Secretaries to implement the best practices in people centric governance with active public participation in developmental process for achieving the goal of good governance through accountable, responsive and proactive administration which is a prerequisite for the sustainable development of any region. He further asked them to use technology and innovative ideas to bring efficiency in the system.

The Lt Governor also observed that the Food processing has a lot of scope in J&K and asked the officers to roll out an effective mechanism in this regard.

During the meeting, the Lt Governor reviewed the efforts of the UT Administration for successful implementation of various schemes launched by the Central and the UT Government and assessed the status of execution of developmental projects across J&K.

Advisors to the Lt Governor – Kewal Kumar Sharma, Farooq Khan, Rajeev Rai Bhatnagar and Baseer Ahmad Khan; BVR Subrahmanyam, Chief Secretary; Arun Kumar Mehta, Financial Commissioner, Finance department; Atal Dulloo, Financial Commissioner, Health and Medical Education; Bipul Pathak, Principal Secretary to Lieutenant Governor, besides Administrative Secretaries of various departments and senior officers attended the meeting.

On his arrival, the Lieutenant Governor inspected the ceremonial Guard of Honour.

Jahangir Lolabi/ M S Nazki

Kupwara/Poonch, Aug 7: A 40-year-old man was among two persons killed and five others including a woman injured as India and Pakistan troops exchanged fire along the Line of Control in Karnah area of north Kashmir’s Kupwara and Poonch districts on Friday.

A senior army officer told GNS that Pakistan army resorted to ceasefire violation along the LoC by firing small arms and mortars, resulting in injuries to six civilians at separate places. “Army gave befitting reply,” he added.

Official sources identified the injured as Mohammad Arif from Shamspora, Mohammad Yaqoob from Baghballa Kachadiyan and Rafaqat Hussain Shahfrom Kachadiyan, 42-year-old Hamida Begium wife Mohammad Akbar, Zakir Khan (24) and  Nasser Ahmad Khan, all residents of Rangward. All three injured persons were shifted to nearby hospital wherefrom three persons—Mohammad Arif with splinter injury on head, Mohammad Yaqoob Mir having forehead splinter injury and Mohammad Arif with injury on lower back and groin– were shifted to SKIMS Soura for advanced treatment.

Later Mohammad Arif succumbed to injuries while condition of the two others is stated to be critical, the officials said.

Meanwhile, sources told GNS that one civilian was killed in Tain Mankote in Poonch.  He has been identified as Mohammad Sadeeq son of Farooz Din.

Meanwhile, army officials here said that Pakistani army also violated ceasefire along the LoC in Uri by resorting to unprovoked firing.

The Pakistani troops fired small arms and mortar shells in the Boniyar sector of the Uri sector in Baramulla district, they said.

The Army gave a befitting reply to the “unprovoked aggression and retaliated in adequate measure”, they added. However, there were no reports about injury to any person so far. (GNS)

Nadeem Nadu

Srinagar, Aug 7: Kashmir reported seven more deaths due to COVID-19 on Friday, officials said.

They said Srinagar reported three deaths, Anantnag and Baramulla two each and Pulwama one death.

Sources told GNS Srinagar deaths include a 60-year-old man from HMT Srinagar who was admitted to hospital on August 3 and a 65-year-old woman from Dalgate Srinagar, admitted on August 5 with “bilateral pneumonia, diabetes”.

Three deaths occurred at SKIMS Soura and include a 65-year-old woman from Sarnal and a 55-year-old man, a pharmacist by profession, from Chersoo area of Awantipora Pulwama who was admitted on July 31 and 46 Anantnag.

Regarding Baramulla, they said one of the victims was 70-year-old from Pinjura Tangmarg who died at SMHS Hospital. The septuagenarian was suffering from “HTN, ICH and Aspiration pneumonia”, they said. The other death included a 63-year-old man from Baramulla who was suffering from “HTN and bilateral pneumonia.”

With these deaths, the overall tally has risen to 450 in J&K, 34 in Jammu and 416 in Kashmir.

Srinagar district with 147 deaths tops the list followed by Baramulla (77), Budgam (34), Anantnag (30), Kulgam (29), Pulwama (28), Shopian (24), Kupwara (22), Jammu (23), Bandipora (17), Ganderbal (7), two each in Rajouri, Doda and Udhampur besides one each in Ramban, Samba, Poonch, and Kathua. (GNS)