The Tribune...Jammu and Kashmir

J A M M U C& CK A S H M I R

Tuesday, July 7, 1998

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J&K waits for 200 cr fund
JAMMU, July 6 — The state government continues to wait for a Rs 200 crore fund from the Centre which it plans to utilise for the "action plan" discussed between senior functionaries of the Union Home Ministry and the state authorities...
Army holds medical camp at Naugam
SRINAGAR, July 6 — About 2500 villagers suffering from various ailments were provided with free medical assistance at a two-day camp organised by the Army which concluded at Naugam yesterday...

Second batch of pilgrims leaves for Amarnath
SRINAGAR, July 6 — A fresh batch of 1216 Amarnath pilgrims who left Jammu in 64 vehicles today arrived in Pahalgam this evening, taking the total number of pilgrims who arrived in Pahalgam during the first two days up to 2357...

Central team puts off visit to border villages
JAMMU, July 6 — The visit of a high-level central team, comprising experts from the Ministries of External Affairs, Home and Defence, to the villages on the international border in Jammu sector has been postponed for reasons unknown...

J&K waits for 200 cr fund
Tribune News Service
JAMMU, July 6 — The state government continues waiting for a Rs 200 crore fund from the centre which it plans to utilise for the "action plan" discussed between senior functionaries of the Union Home Ministry and the state authorities. The Centre had made a commitment for releasing the money for the plan shortly but about 15 days have passed and there is no word from the Union Government.
The Chief Minister, Dr Farooq Abdullah, is said to have approved the action plan for combating militancy in the state. The plan was formulated by Director-General of Police, Mr Gurbachan Jagat, who is stated to have decided not to wait for the deployment of additional companies of paramilitary forces but instead strengthen the police in Jammu and Kashmir.
The Rs 200 crore action plan, official sources said, envisages raising of two more battalions of the police, purchase of sophisticated weapons and modernisation of telecommunication network.
Under the plan the strength of the special police officers (SPOs) is to be increased from 3100 to about 8,000 and 114 border police posts were being set up to assist troops and paramilitary forces to check infiltration from across the border.
The plan has laid emphasis on increasing the number of village defence committees from 350 to over 600 in the near future and equip all VDC members with better weapons.
The police chief is of the opinion that strengthening the VDCs in terms of man and machine power, could prove very helpful to the state in containing the activities of the militants. During the past two years the VDC members have shown courage by repulsing the attack of the militants and in several areas the insurgents were forced to flee when the VDC members were fighting twith .303 guns.
The state authorities fear that further delay in the release of Rs 200 crore for the action plan could allow breathing time for the militants. The state government had suggested to the Centre that it should be given better weapons on loan which could be given to the police and the VDC members but so far there has been no positive response.

Army holds medical camp at Naugam
Tribune News Service
SRINAGAR, July 6 — About 2500 villagers suffering from various ailments were provided with free medical assistance at a two-day camp organised by the Sector 16 of the Army which concluded at Naugam yesterday.
Inaugurating the camp, N.S. Rana, Commander of the Sector, said that the area, far-flung and distant from Baramula and Handwara towns, was devoid of such medical facilities. He said that due to the inaccessibility to many areas and lack of road links a large number of people suffering from varied ailments, failed to get aid. He said that the Army would continue to provide such assistance to the people living in the area, where poor structure of the civil administration led to many problems of the people.
Brigadier Rana said that this was the first such camp held. He expressed his thanks to the district administration which had helped conduct the camp. The District Development Commissioner had sanctioned Rs 30,000 for the camp. The police also extended its assistance.
For the recreation of the visiting populace, Pipe Band of 16 Garhwal Rifles and String Band of Dogra Scouts were in attendance.
Importance of childcare was highlighted for the benefit of general public. Free spectacles were distributed to the poor and needy persons along with ration packets. Sports equipment, stationery items and school uniforms were also gifted to school children. Free lunch, tea and snacks were offered to all the people visiting the camp.
The response of the civil administration was also positive which provided, medical, surgical, eye, child, gyaenocologist and ENT specialists.
As a goodwill gesture, the Army also distributed gift packets to the poor families of the surrounding villages. These families, about half a dozen in each village, have been adopted by the Army.

Second batch of pilgrims leaves
Tribune News Service
SRINAGAR, July 6 — A fresh batch of 1216 Amarnath pilgrims who left Jammu in 64 vehicles today arrived in Pahalgam this evening, taking the total number of pilgrims who arrived in Pahalgam during the first two days up to 2357.
The Amarnath pilgrimage to the holy cave shrine in the upper reaches of Pahalgam began from Jammu yesterday when 1141 pilgrims drawn from different parts of the country started the holy pilgrimage. Those who arrived in Pahalgam, the base camp of the yatra, last evening reached Chandanwari today, wherefrom the 46-km trek to the holy cave shrine starts.
Adequate security arrangements have been made for the smooth conduct of the pilgrimage, the period of which has been extended up to 30 days. Though the rush is yet to pick up, the government has decided to allow at least 3000 pilgrims from Chandanwari everyday. With this, the total number of pilgrims could touch a maximum of 90,000. Last year about 60,000 pilgrims attended the yatra.
Till the last reports came in, some of the vehicles bound for Pahalgam were still moving from Anantnag, about 40 km away. These pilgrims would proceed for Chandanwari tomorrow.

Central team puts off visit to border villages
Tribune News Service
JAMMU, July 6 — The visit of a high-level central team, comprising experts from the Ministries of External Affairs, Home and Defence, to the villages on the international border in Jammu sector has been postponed for unknown reasons. The team was scheduled to visit R.S. Pora, Samba and Akhnoor sectors today and tomorrow.
Official sources said that the team members wanted to assess the progress and the impact of the solar lights which had been installed at several places on the border. These solar lights had helped the BSF in spoting infiltrators during the night when the entire area would be dark and difficult because of tall sarkanda plants.
The sources said that during the last 10 days there has been a marked drop in the rate of intrusion bids because of the solar lights. The central team was to examine the feasibility of allocating additional funds for installing solar lights all along the 200-km long border.
Reports said that the team was scheduled to discuss the border fencing project. The fencing of the border had been suspended since 1995 when the Pak Rangers resorted to heavy firing on Indian villages to disrupt fencing.