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Woman dies of ‘medical negligence’ Excelsior Correspondent SRINAGAR, May 5: Protest erupted at Baramulla District Hospital after a woman who had given birth to her baby died due to alleged medical negligence. The Hospital authorities have ordered a probe to ascertain the allegation. Relatives of the victim, Shameema Begum, wife of Sajad Ahmad Malik, resident of Boniyar, said her delivery was per- formed by a doctor, Gulshan Badroo, today at the Baramulla hos- pital and she gave birth to a baby. “However, shortly after the operation, she started to bleed and the doctors referred her to Lal Ded Hospital Srinagar where she died,” they said and alleged that the woman died as a result of medical negligence. “The bleeding occurred due to negligence at Baramulla Hospital,” they said. Excelsior Correspondent ANANTNAG, May 5: Chief Minister, Mehbooba Mufti, today praised late Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah for Jammu and Kashmir’s acces- sion with India and said that accession was not with a par- ticular party but everybody including Congress, Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP), Communists and Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangh (RSS). While addressing a gathering at Anantnag Railway Station dur- ing the flagging off of four new trains in Kashmir valley, the Chief Minister said that as there is bloodshed in entire Muslim world these days and the deci- sion taken by the Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah about accession with India in 1947 was right. “…the decision taken by late Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah in 1947, for preserving the unique identity of this place, to accede Jammu and Kashmir with a country where Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Christians are living together, where there is Kingdom but democracy, was right”, she said. Attacking her critics, particu- larly National Conference, for joining hands with BJP, Mehbooba said that when J&K acceded to India in 1947, it acceded to everybody and not to a particular political party. “They are saying BJP, BJP. When Jammu and Kashmir acceded to India in 1947, it didn’t accede to any particular party. It acceded to everybody, which includes Congress, the BJP, the Communists and the RSS”, she said. The Chief Minister said that real issue is to protect the distinct identity of the State which can be achieved either by fighting with the Centre or befriending it. “The real issue is how to protect our distinct identity – there are two ways one by fighting for it and another by befriending them. We have to safeguard those things given to us by God and Indian Constitution. I told a major conference in Delhi that we will protect Article 370 at all costs because when we take oath of office we swear by the Constitution of which this is a part. We are committed on that”, she said. Mehbooba said that she was unwilling to take over as the Chief Minister of the State but her father’s quest for working for the betterment of the people even on death bed changed her Sanjeev Pargal/ Fayaz Bukhari JAMMU/SRINAGAR, May 5: Railways Minister Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu said today that his Ministry was focusing very seriously on Katra-Banihal railway line to link the Kashmir valley directly by train with rest of India and announced that work on the section would be expedited to complete it as early as possible. He was speaking at Rail Bhawan, New Delhi this after- noon after flagging off two pas- senger trains with limited stops from Banihal to Baramulla in the presence of Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) Dr Jitendra Singh, Jugal Kishore and Thupstan Chhewang, the BJP Lok Sabha members, Fayyaz Ahmad Mir, Rajya Sabha member of the PDP, Railways Board chairman AK Mittal and Member (Traffic) Mohammad Jamshed. Simultaneously, Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti along with Deputy Chief Minister Dr Nirmal Singh, other Cabinet Ministers and legislators flagged off the limited-stop Diesel Neeraj Rohmetra JAMMU, May 5: In a major development, the Supreme Court today virtually endorsed the view point of Jammu and Kashmir Government over the issue of National Eligibility Entrance Test (NEET) and acknowl- edged the Special Status enjoyed by the State by virtue of its Special Constitutional and Legal position. The hearing in the crucial case started at 2 pm today before the Special Apex Court Bench head- ed by Justice A R Dave and the Bench approved the stand taken by the State’s counsel that that State Subject Rules and State Reservation Rules would form the basis for selection to Medical Colleges across the State. Seeking non-applicability of NEET, the counsel for the State sought the attention of the Court towards the special relationship of the State with Union of India and also quoted several Supreme Court judgements. While elaborating over the Special Constitutional Status of the State, the counsel submitted, “the State of J&K enjoys special relationship, unlike any other State in the Union of India by virtue of Articles 370 and 35A of Constitution of India”, adding, “as per the State Subject laws, admissions to medical colleges in the State would be open only to residents of the State”. Endorsing the view point of State Government, the Bench in open court categorically stated, “State Subject law will be respected and only permanent residents of the State shall be eligible for admission to Medical Colleges in Jammu and Kashmir”. “Further, the reservations shall be as per the State Reservation Act and Women would continue to get 50% reser- vation as provided under the State Act besides reservation for other reserved categories”, Bench added. Officials, who were present in the Court premises, said that even the counsel for Medical Council of India (MCI) and Government of India (GoI) subscribed the view point that only State Subjects would be eligible for admission in Medical Colleges of the Jammu and Kashmir. Sources said, “senior advo- cate for Medical Council of India (MCI), Vikas Singh submitted that if NEET is implemented in Jammu and Kashmir this year as per the clause III of Section (6) of the MCI notification No. MCI- 31(1)/2010-Med/49068, even then, only State Subjects, shall be entitled for admissions and not students from outside the State. As State wise merit list of the eli- gible candidate shall be prepared on the basis of marks obtained in National Eligibility cum Entrance Test and every State shall conduct counselling as per their own State list”. The Bench further observed the same during the course of arguments and is likely to accept the submissions made by Gopal Subramanium, Senior Advocate and former Solicitor General of India appearing for the State along with Standing Counsel, Sunil Fernandes. Legal experts pointed out that J&K has enacted the J&K Reservation Act, 2004 which pro- vides for a unique system of reservation in appointment and NEW DELHI, May 5: A high-level meeting chaired by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh today discussed various issues per- taining to Jammu and Kashmir including rehabilitation of Kashmiri Pandit migrants, return of civilian land by the Army and the situation along the Line of Control (LoC). The meeting was attended among others by Defence Minister Manohar Parikar, state Governor N N Vohra and National Security Advisor Ajit K Doval. According to official sources, the issue of surrender of civilian land being used by the army was discussed at the meet- ing and it was decided that state's Chief Secretary will hold a meeting with Defence Ministry officials to identify those and work out a proposal. The Army had in principle agreed during the tenure of Omar Abdullah Government to hand over the 139-acre 'Tattoo ground' to the State Government but a final decision had to be taken by the Defence Ministry. Now, according to the sources, the Army has been pressing for regularisation of a land in picturesque Gulmarg in return for the 'Tattoo ground'. The rehabilitation of Kashmiri Pandits in the Valley and identifying land for their resettlement also came up for discussion. There are about 62,000 reg- istered Kashmiri migrant fami- lies in the country who left the State after the onset of militancy in the 1990s. About 40,000 registered families stay in Jammu, while another 20,000 in the national capital. The remaining 2,000 families are settled in other parts of the country. The high-level meeting also took stock of the situation prevail- ing along the International Border and Line of Control, amidst reports of infiltration attempts from across the border with the onset of summer, the sources said. The meeting also reviewed the action taken to maintain security in the Valley in the wake of recent unrest following the killing of four persons in action by security forces against violent protesters enraged over alleged molestation of a girl. In a statement, the Home Ministry said the meeting was called to review the develop- mental projects and other related issues regarding the State. It was decided that the matter relating to surrender of civilian land not required for operational purposes by the Army would be expedited. The Army has restructured its requirements for land which it would make available to the State Government for develop- ment projects, the statement said. (PTI) Excelsior daily REGD.NO.JK-71/15-17 RNI No. 28547/1992 Vol No. 52 No. 125 JAMMU, FRIDAY, MAY 6, 2016 16 Pages ` 4.00 INSIDE WEATHER * Home in disorder ...Page 8 * Short of Army officers NEET detrimental to interests of J&K students: Farooq ...Page 3 PDP-BJP side- stepping elected representatives: NC . ..Page 5 Entire Jammu city turns into garbage dump as Municipal workers resume strike ...Page 5 Public participation necessary for development: Kavinder ...Page 7 Rahane, bowlers script badly-needed win for Pune ...Page 14 JAMMU : Partly cloudy sky. TEMPERATURE Max: 34.9 Degree C Min: 19.8 Degree C RELATIVE HUMIDITY RH-I (Morning): 36.0 per cent RH-II (Evening): 31.0 per cent Sunset on Friday : 07.16 p.m. Sunrise on Saturday: 05.40 a.m. KASHMIR: Partly cloudy sky. TEMPERATURE Max: 20.0 Degree C Min: 11.6 Degree C RELATIVE HUMIDITY RH-I (Morning): 90.0 per cent RH-II (Evening): 90.0 per cent LEH: TEMPERATURE Max: 21.7 Degree C Min: 12.0 Degree C Internet Edition: www.dailyexcelsior.com E-Paper: http://epaper.dailyexcelsior.com facebook.com/dailyexcelsior twitter.com/dailyexcelsior1 dailyexcelsior.com/apps Huge impact on tourism: CM Katra-Banihal rail link top priority of Centre: Prabhu *New trains to Valley triple gift: Dr Jitendra Samba, Baramulla, Rajouri, Srinagar on top of gender critical distt s’ list 10 more districts of J&K with lowest Child Sex Ratio covered under BBBP *Centre to assess impact of scheme in July Mohinder Verma JAMMU, May 5: Keeping in view their depressing sce- nario vis-à-vis Child Sex Ratio (CSR), the Union Government has extended Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP) scheme to 10 more districts of Jammu and Kashmir. With this, the State has become major beneficiary of tri-ministerial initiative as the number of districts covered under this scheme has gone up to 15. The Beti Bachao Beti Padhao, a brain child of Prime Minister, Narendra Modi was launched on January 22, 2015 with the objective to curb and prevent not only the decline in Child Sex Ratio but also to ensure women's empowerment over a life cycle continuum. To make the programme holistic, efforts have been under- taken to address different aspects of the issue that challenges the survival of girl child. The scheme is a tri-ministerial effort of Ministries of Women and Child Development, Health and Family Welfare and Human Resource Development. The key elements of the scheme include awareness and advocacy campaign, enabling girls' education and effective enforcement of Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PC&PNDT) Act. Following the launch of this scheme, five districts of Jammu and Kashmir---Jammu, Pulwama, Kathua, Budgam and Anantnag were selected for cov- erage under BBBP. These dis- tricts were chosen keeping in view significant declining trend in Child Sex Ratio. As per the census of 2001, there were 819 girls per 1000 boys in the age group of 0-6 years in Jammu district but the figure declined to 795 girls per 1000 boys as per the census of 2011. Similarly, there were 1046 girls per 1000 boys in Pulwama in 2001 but the figure fell considerably to 829 girls per 1000 boys in 2011. Likewise, the number of girls per 1000 boys in Kathua declined to 831 as per the census of 2011 in comparison to the 847 figure of 2001 census. Budgam district had 963 girls per 1000 boys in 2001 but the figure dropped to 832 in 2011 while as in Anantnag district against 977 girls per 1000 boys as per 2001 census the num- ber decreased to 841 in 2011. "As the scheme has appar- ently started yielding positive results vis-à-vis checking declining trend in Child Sex Ratio, the Union Government has extended the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao to 10 more dis- tricts of Jammu and Kashmir, which are also on the list of gender critical districts", offi- cial sources told EXCELSIOR. These 10 districts are Samba, Baramulla, Ganderbal, Rajouri, Srinagar, Shopian, Kupwara, Kulgam, Udhampur and Bandipora. Among these dis- tricts, Samba, Baramulla, Ganderbal, Rajouri and Srinagar are on top of the list with extremely lowest Child Sex Ratio. As per the statistics, there were 798 girls per 1000 boys as per 2001 census in Samba dis- trict but this figure declined to 779 in 2011. In Baramulla and Ganderbal districts, there were 961 and 1014 girls respectively per 1000 boys in 2001 but the figure declined to 863 each dur- ing 2011. Similarly, there were 905 and 983 girls per 1000 boys in Rajouri and Srinagar dis- tricts in 2001 but the number fell considerably to 865 each in 2011. In Shopian district there were 1011 girls per thousand boys dur- ing 2001 but the number declined to 878 in 2011 while as in Kupwara the number decreased to 879 girls per 1000 boys in 2011 from 1021 during 2001. In the census of 2011, the number of girls per thousand boys was recorded at 885 against 1003 in the census of 2001 in Kulgam district. The Udhampur district recorded 886 girls per thousand Pandit s’ resettlement on agenda Rajnath reviews J&K situation with Parrikar, Vohra, others S t ate Subject, Reservation Rules to be strictly followed SC endorses J&K’s view point on NEET Entrance (Contd on page 6 Col 6) (Contd on page 6 Col 1) (Contd on page 6 Col 6) * Pic on page 6 FM rules out rollback of excise duty NEW DELHI, May 5: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today rejected demands, includ- ing from ally Shiv Sena, for roll- back of one per cent excise duty on non-silver jewellery and asserted that jewellers will have to pay taxes. He said in the Lok Sabha that the Government had already constituted a committee over the issue and Parliamentarians could give their suggestions to it so that rules related to it could be sim- plified. “Tax will have to be paid. But we will ensure that there is no harassment of jewellers,” Jaitley said during his reply to a discussion on the Finance Bill. He also brushed aside the demand made by Deepender Hooda of Congress for exempt- ing jewellers based in rural areas, saying the income thresh- old is so high for the jewellers (Contd on page 6 Col 6) 7 dead at Ujjain Kumbh Mela UJJAIN (MP), May 5: Seven people were killed and around 90 others injured when heavy rains accompanied by lightning and squall flattened and uprooted makeshifts tents of pilgrims in and around the site of ongoing Simhatha Kumbh Mela here this evening. "Seven people have been killed and 90 other injured in and around the Mela area," Ujjain Divisional Commissioner Ravindra Pastaur said. The second 'Shahi Snan' (royal bath) is slated for May 9. Prima facie, the casualties resulted due to collapse of tents and some gates erected at the Kumbh area. Among the deceased is a woman pilgrim who was killed in (Contd on page 6 Col 6) * Pic on page 6 Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu and MoS in PMO Dr Jitendra Singh flagging off trains in Kashmir from New Delhi via video conferencing while Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti boards the train after flagging it off in Anantnag on Thursday. Another pic on page 7. (Contd on page 6 Col 1) Mehbooba attacks critics for aligning with BJP (Contd on page 6 Col 3)

Transcript of page-1.qxd (Page 2) - EPAPER - DAILY...

Page 1: page-1.qxd (Page 2) - EPAPER - DAILY EXCELSIORepaper.dailyexcelsior.com/epaperpdf/2016/may/16may06/page1.pdf · Court judgements. While elaborating over the Special Constitutional

Woman dies of ‘medical negligence’Excelsior Correspondent

SRINAGAR, May 5: Protest erupted at Baramulla DistrictHospital after a woman who had given birth to her baby died dueto alleged medical negligence. The Hospital authorities haveordered a probe to ascertain the allegation.

Relatives of the victim, Shameema Begum, wife of SajadAhmad Malik, resident of Boniyar, said her delivery was per-formed by a doctor, Gulshan Badroo, today at the Baramulla hos-pital and she gave birth to a baby.

“However, shortly after the operation, she started to bleed andthe doctors referred her to Lal Ded Hospital Srinagar where shedied,” they said and alleged that the woman died as a result ofmedical negligence. “The bleeding occurred due to negligence atBaramulla Hospital,” they said.

Excelsior Correspondent

ANANTNAG, May 5: ChiefMinister, Mehbooba Mufti,today praised late SheikhMohammad Abdullah forJammu and Kashmir’s acces-sion with India and said thataccession was not with a par-ticular party but everybodyincluding Congress, BhartiyaJanta Party (BJP),Communists and RashtriyaSwayam Sevak Sangh (RSS).

While addressing a gatheringat Anantnag Railway Station dur-ing the flagging off of four newtrains in Kashmir valley, theChief Minister said that as thereis bloodshed in entire Muslimworld these days and the deci-sion taken by the SheikhMohammad Abdullah aboutaccession with India in 1947 wasright. “…the decision taken bylate Sheikh MohammadAbdullah in 1947, for preservingthe unique identity of this place,to accede Jammu and Kashmirwith a country where Hindus,Muslims, Sikhs, Christians areliving together, where there isKingdom but democracy, wasright”, she said.

Attacking her critics, particu-larly National Conference, forjoining hands with BJP,Mehbooba said that when J&K

acceded to India in 1947, itacceded to everybody and not toa particular political party. “Theyare saying BJP, BJP. WhenJammu and Kashmir acceded toIndia in 1947, it didn’t accede toany particular party. It acceded toeverybody, which includesCongress, the BJP, theCommunists and the RSS”, shesaid.

The Chief Minister saidthat real issue is to protect thedistinct identity of the Statewhich can be achieved eitherby fighting with the Centre orbefriending it. “The real issueis how to protect our distinctidentity – there are two waysone by fighting for it andanother by befriending them.We have to safeguard thosethings given to us by God andIndian Constitution. I told amajor conference in Delhi thatwe will protect Article 370 atall costs because when we takeoath of office we swear by theConstitution of which this is apart. We are committed onthat”, she said.

Mehbooba said that she wasunwilling to take over as theChief Minister of the State buther father’s quest for working forthe betterment of the people evenon death bed changed her

Sanjeev Pargal/Fayaz Bukhari

JAMMU/SRINAGAR, May5: Railways Minister SureshPrabhakar Prabhu said todaythat his Ministry was focusing

very seriously on Katra-Banihalrailway line to link the Kashmirvalley directly by train with restof India and announced thatwork on the section would be

expedited to complete it as earlyas possible.

He was speaking at RailBhawan, New Delhi this after-noon after flagging off two pas-senger trains with limited stopsfrom Banihal to Baramulla in the

presence of Minister of State inthe Prime Minister's Office(PMO) Dr Jitendra Singh, JugalKishore and Thupstan Chhewang,the BJP Lok Sabha members,

Fayyaz Ahmad Mir, Rajya Sabhamember of the PDP, RailwaysBoard chairman AK Mittal andMember (Traffic) MohammadJamshed.

Simultaneously, ChiefMinister Mehbooba Mufti along

with Deputy Chief Minister DrNirmal Singh, other CabinetMinisters and legislators flaggedoff the limited-stop Diesel

Neeraj Rohmetra

JAMMU, May 5: In amajor development, theSupreme Court today virtuallyendorsed the view point ofJammu and KashmirGovernment over the issue ofNational Eligibility EntranceTest (NEET) and acknowl-edged the Special Statusenjoyed by the State by virtueof its Special Constitutional andLegal position.

The hearing in the crucial casestarted at 2 pm today before theSpecial Apex Court Bench head-ed by Justice A R Dave and theBench approved the stand takenby the State’s counsel that thatState Subject Rules and StateReservation Rules would formthe basis for selection to MedicalColleges across the State.

Seeking non-applicability ofNEET, the counsel for the Statesought the attention of the Courttowards the special relationshipof the State with Union of Indiaand also quoted several SupremeCourt judgements.

While elaborating over theSpecial Constitutional Status ofthe State, the counsel submitted,

“the State of J&K enjoys specialrelationship, unlike any otherState in the Union of India byvirtue of Articles 370 and 35A ofConstitution of India”, adding,“as per the State Subject laws,admissions to medical colleges inthe State would be open only toresidents of the State”.

Endorsing the view point ofState Government, the Bench inopen court categorically stated,“State Subject law will berespected and only permanentresidents of the State shall beeligible for admission toMedical Colleges in Jammuand Kashmir”.

“Further, the reservationsshall be as per the StateReservation Act and Womenwould continue to get 50% reser-vation as provided under the StateAct besides reservation for otherreserved categories”, Benchadded.

Officials, who were present inthe Court premises, said that eventhe counsel for Medical Councilof India (MCI) and Governmentof India (GoI) subscribed theview point that only StateSubjects would be eligible foradmission in Medical Colleges of

the Jammu and Kashmir. Sources said, “senior advo-

cate for Medical Council of India(MCI), Vikas Singh submittedthat if NEET is implemented inJammu and Kashmir this year asper the clause III of Section (6) ofthe MCI notification No. MCI-31(1)/2010-Med/49068, eventhen, only State Subjects, shall beentitled for admissions and notstudents from outside the State.As State wise merit list of the eli-gible candidate shall be preparedon the basis of marks obtained inNational Eligibility cum EntranceTest and every State shall conductcounselling as per their own Statelist”.

The Bench further observedthe same during the course ofarguments and is likely toaccept the submissions made byGopal Subramanium, SeniorAdvocate and former SolicitorGeneral of India appearing forthe State along with StandingCounsel, Sunil Fernandes.

Legal experts pointed out thatJ&K has enacted the J&KReservation Act, 2004 which pro-vides for a unique system ofreservation in appointment and

NEW DELHI, May 5:

A high-level meetingchaired by Union HomeMinister Rajnath Singh todaydiscussed various issues per-taining to Jammu and Kashmirincluding rehabilitation ofKashmiri Pandit migrants,return of civilian land by theArmy and the situation alongthe Line of Control (LoC).

The meeting was attendedamong others by DefenceMinister Manohar Parikar, stateGovernor N N Vohra andNational Security Advisor Ajit KDoval.

According to officialsources, the issue of surrender ofcivilian land being used by thearmy was discussed at the meet-ing and it was decided thatstate's Chief Secretary will holda meeting with DefenceMinistry officials to identifythose and work out a proposal.

The Army had in principleagreed during the tenure ofOmar Abdullah Government tohand over the 139-acre 'Tattooground' to the State Governmentbut a final decision had to betaken by the Defence Ministry.

Now, according to thesources, the Army has beenpressing for regularisation of aland in picturesque Gulmarg inreturn for the 'Tattoo ground'.

The rehabilitation ofKashmiri Pandits in the Valleyand identifying land for their

resettlement also came up fordiscussion.

There are about 62,000 reg-istered Kashmiri migrant fami-lies in the country who left theState after the onset of militancyin the 1990s.

About 40,000 registeredfamilies stay in Jammu, whileanother 20,000 in the nationalcapital. The remaining 2,000families are settled in other partsof the country.

The high-level meeting alsotook stock of the situation prevail-ing along the International Borderand Line of Control, amidstreports of infiltration attemptsfrom across the border with theonset of summer, the sources said.

The meeting also reviewedthe action taken to maintainsecurity in the Valley in thewake of recent unrest followingthe killing of four persons inaction by security forces againstviolent protesters enraged overalleged molestation of a girl.

In a statement, the HomeMinistry said the meeting wascalled to review the develop-mental projects and other relatedissues regarding the State.

It was decided that the matterrelating to surrender of civilianland not required for operationalpurposes by the Army would beexpedited.

The Army has restructuredits requirements for land whichit would make available to theState Government for develop-ment projects, the statementsaid. (PTI)

Excelsiordaily

REGD.NO.JK-71/15-17RNI No. 28547/1992

Vol No. 52 No. 125 JAMMU, FRIDAY, MAY 6, 2016 16 Pages `̀ 4.00

INSIDE WEATHER* Home in disorder ...Page 8* Short of Army officersNEET detrimental tointerests of J&Kstudents: Farooq ...Page 3PDP-BJP side-stepping electedrepresentatives: NC . ..Page 5Entire Jammu city turnsinto garbage dump asMunicipal workersresume strike ...Page 5Public participationnecessary for development: Kavinder ...Page 7Rahane, bowlers scriptbadly-needed winfor Pune ...Page 14

JAMMU : Partly cloudy sky.

TEMPERATUREMax: 34.9 Degree C Min: 19.8 Degree C

RELATIVE HUMIDITYRH-I (Morning): 36.0 per centRH-II (Evening): 31.0 per centSunset on Friday : 07.16 p.m.Sunrise on Saturday: 05.40 a.m.

KASHMIR:Partly cloudy sky.

TEMPERATUREMax: 20.0 Degree C Min: 11.6 Degree C

RELATIVE HUMIDITYRH-I (Morning): 90.0 per centRH-II (Evening): 90.0 per cent

LEH: TEMPERATUREMax: 21.7 Degree C Min: 12.0 Degree C

Internet Edition: www.dailyexcelsior.comE-Paper: http://epaper.dailyexcelsior.com

facebook.com/dailyexcelsiortwitter.com/dailyexcelsior1dailyexcelsior.com/apps

Huge impact on tourism: CM

Katra-Banihal rail link toppriority of Centre: Prabhu

*New trains to Valley triple gift: Dr Jitendra

Samba, Baramulla, Rajouri, Srinagar on top of gender critical distts’ list

10 more districts of J&K with lowest Child Sex Ratio covered under BBBP

*Centre to assess impact of scheme in JulyMohinder Verma

JAMMU, May 5: Keepingin view their depressing sce-nario vis-à-vis Child Sex Ratio(CSR), the Union Governmenthas extended Beti Bachao BetiPadhao (BBBP) scheme to 10more districts of Jammu andKashmir. With this, the Statehas become major beneficiaryof tri-ministerial initiative asthe number of districts coveredunder this scheme has gone upto 15.

The Beti Bachao BetiPadhao, a brain child of PrimeMinister, Narendra Modi waslaunched on January 22, 2015with the objective to curb andprevent not only the decline inChild Sex Ratio but also toensure women's empowermentover a life cycle continuum.

To make the programmeholistic, efforts have been under-taken to address different aspectsof the issue that challenges thesurvival of girl child. The schemeis a tri-ministerial effort ofMinistries of Women and ChildDevelopment, Health and FamilyWelfare and Human ResourceDevelopment.

The key elements of thescheme include awareness andadvocacy campaign, enablinggirls' education and effectiveenforcement of Pre-Conceptionand Pre-Natal DiagnosticTechniques (PC&PNDT) Act.

Following the launch of thisscheme, five districts of Jammuand Kashmir---Jammu,Pulwama, Kathua, Budgam andAnantnag were selected for cov-erage under BBBP. These dis-tricts were chosen keeping inview significant declining trendin Child Sex Ratio.

As per the census of 2001,there were 819 girls per 1000boys in the age group of 0-6years in Jammu district but thefigure declined to 795 girls per1000 boys as per the census of2011. Similarly, there were1046 girls per 1000 boys inPulwama in 2001 but the figurefell considerably to 829 girlsper 1000 boys in 2011.

Likewise, the number of girlsper 1000 boys in Kathua declinedto 831 as per the census of 2011in comparison to the 847 figureof 2001 census. Budgam districthad 963 girls per 1000 boys in2001 but the figure dropped to832 in 2011 while as in Anantnagdistrict against 977 girls per 1000boys as per 2001 census the num-ber decreased to 841 in 2011.

"As the scheme has appar-ently started yielding positiveresults vis-à-vis checkingdeclining trend in Child SexRatio, the Union Governmenthas extended the Beti BachaoBeti Padhao to 10 more dis-tricts of Jammu and Kashmir,which are also on the list ofgender critical districts", offi-

cial sources told EXCELSIOR.These 10 districts are Samba,

Baramulla, Ganderbal, Rajouri,Srinagar, Shopian, Kupwara,Kulgam, Udhampur andBandipora. Among these dis-tricts, Samba, Baramulla,Ganderbal, Rajouri and Srinagarare on top of the list withextremely lowest Child SexRatio.

As per the statistics, therewere 798 girls per 1000 boys asper 2001 census in Samba dis-trict but this figure declined to779 in 2011. In Baramulla andGanderbal districts, there were961 and 1014 girls respectivelyper 1000 boys in 2001 but thefigure declined to 863 each dur-ing 2011. Similarly, there were905 and 983 girls per 1000 boysin Rajouri and Srinagar dis-tricts in 2001 but the numberfell considerably to 865 each in2011.

In Shopian district there were1011 girls per thousand boys dur-ing 2001 but the number declinedto 878 in 2011 while as inKupwara the number decreasedto 879 girls per 1000 boys in2011 from 1021 during 2001. Inthe census of 2011, the number ofgirls per thousand boys wasrecorded at 885 against 1003 inthe census of 2001 in Kulgamdistrict.

The Udhampur districtrecorded 886 girls per thousand

Pandits’ resettlement on agendaRajnath reviews J&K situation

with Parrikar, Vohra, others

State Subject, Reservation Rules to be strictly followed

SC endorses J&K’s view point on NEET Entrance

(Contd on page 6 Col 6)

(Contd on page 6 Col 1)

(Contd on page 6 Col 6)

* Pic on page 6

FM rules outrollback ofexcise duty NEW DELHI, May 5:

Finance Minister Arun Jaitleytoday rejected demands, includ-ing from ally Shiv Sena, for roll-back of one per cent excise dutyon non-silver jewellery andasserted that jewellers will haveto pay taxes.

He said in the Lok Sabhathat the Government hadalready constituted a committeeover the issue andParliamentarians could givetheir suggestions to it so thatrules related to it could be sim-plified.

“Tax will have to be paid.But we will ensure that there isno harassment of jewellers,”Jaitley said during his reply to adiscussion on the Finance Bill.

He also brushed aside thedemand made by DeependerHooda of Congress for exempt-ing jewellers based in ruralareas, saying the income thresh-old is so high for the jewellers

(Contd on page 6 Col 6)

7 dead at Ujjain Kumbh MelaUJJAIN (MP), May 5:

Seven people were killed and around 90 others injured whenheavy rains accompanied by lightning and squall flattened anduprooted makeshifts tents of pilgrims in and around the site ofongoing Simhatha Kumbh Mela here this evening.

"Seven people have been killed and 90 otherinjured in and around the Mela area," Ujjain

Divisional Commissioner Ravindra Pastaur said. The second 'ShahiSnan' (royal bath) is slated for May 9.

Prima facie, the casualties resulted due to collapse of tents andsome gates erected at the Kumbh area.

Among the deceased is a woman pilgrim who was killed in(Contd on page 6 Col 6)

* Pic on page 6

Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu and MoS in PMO Dr Jitendra Singh flagging off trains inKashmir from New Delhi via video conferencing while Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti boards thetrain after flagging it off in Anantnag on Thursday. Another pic on page 7.

(Contd on page 6 Col 1)

Mehbooba attacks criticsfor aligning with BJP

(Contd on page 6 Col 3)