Excelsior Correspondent

NOWSHERA, Feb 6:General Officer Commanding inChief Northern Command Lt GenD S Hooda paid tributes to martyrsof Nowshera battle to markNowshera Day.

Nowshera Day, is the tall testi-

mony of supreme sacrifice andpassionate love of Indian Armyand the locals of the area for theirmotherland.

In 1947-48, Indian troops andlocals fought together to defendNowshera and threw out PakistaniTribal raiders from the area.Prominent battles include battle fordefence of Nowshera and QilaDarhal and recapture of Jhangar.Ever since then the bonding andbonhomie grew stronger betweenIndian Army and civilians.Nowshera Day is special as it is thecelebration of those strong rela-tions.

A number of connect and careand educate and empower eventswere organised as built up to thegrand finale in last month. OnFebruary 6, 2016, the series ofthese events culminated into agrand and solemn memorial serv-ice to commemorate 68thNowshera Day.

The events weregraced by Lt Gen DSHooda, ArmyC o m m a n d e r ,Northern Comm-andand Rashmi Hooda,Regional PresidentAWWA NorthernCommand alongwith large number ofMilitary and civildignitaries.

The ArmyCommander laidwreath at NaikJadhunath Singhmemorial followedby visit to BalAshram where ArmyC o m m a n d e r ,Northern Comm-and

and Rashmi Hooda interacted withchildren. The visit to Bal Ashramwas followed by a colorful impres-sive variety entertainment programpresented by enthusiastic students.The Army Commander, AWWApresident felicitated Veer Naris andfamilies of defenders of QilaDarhal and meritorious students.The grand event was witnessed bya large number of locals.

Army Commander recalled thevaliant contributions of martyrsand locals who played importantrole in defending Nowshera. Hecalled upon everyone to activelyparticipate in nation building.

Excelsior CorrespondentJAMMU, Feb 6: A number of

permanent employees in JammuUniversity, recruited afterJanuary 1, 2010, under NewPension Scheme, have not yetbeen provided their PermanentRetirement Account Number(PRAN) even as the universityhas been deducting share of theircontribution from the monthlysalary.

Laxity on the part of JUauthorities is now turning intoharassment to the aggrievedemployees, who have been offi-cially ‘warned’ that they wouldbe deprived of income tax rebateon the deducted amount of theirsalary, which the JammuUniversity claims to havedeposited in banks.

A formal communiqué in thisregard was issued by theAccounts Section of JU this week

to the employees without PRANeven as they have submitted theapplication forms twice with theuniversity Establishment Wingfor the purpose.

The official warning has trig-gered a strong resentment amongthe affected staff, mostly non-gazetted and class IV employees,who are suffering because of nofault of theirs but the universityauthorities.

According to the officialsources, the employees underNew Pension Scheme could notget their PRAN because of sometechnical reasons and lack ofcoordination between JU and theKashmir based concernedagency, which did not perform itsjob as per the requirement. Later,this agency claimed that theapplication forms had got washedaway in 2014 floods and there-after the employees were recentlyasked to submit application formsafresh.

Even as Jammu Universityclaims that share of the staff wasregularly being deposited in thebank for transferring the same torespective employee’s PRAN asand when it is allotted, the recentcommuniqué of the AccountsSection has triggered the contro-versy and exposed the lack ofcoordination among different sec-tions of the university.

Instead of seeking a clarifica-tion from the Establishment Wingon delay in getting the PRAN ofleft over employees, the AccountsSection directly wrote to theconcerned employees warning notax rebate on their deduction,

sources explained.Laxity on the part of con-

cerned official can be gaugedfrom the fact that deducted sharean employee, who joined the JUservices two years back and wasalready having a PRAN whileworking previously with anotherorganization, was also notdeposited in his RetirementAccount Number despite aforma, request for the same byhim.

When contacted, JURegistrar, Prof Keshav Sharmasaid that majority of the employ-ees have been provided withPRAN and the process was on toensure that the left over can alsoget the same as early as possible.

Pertinent to mention that theNew Pension Scheme was imple-mented in Jammu and Kashmirfrom January 1, 2010 for all theemployees recruited. since thatdate. The NPS is on the pattern ofCentral Government, which toohas done away with the pensionand set up a statutory body for theemployees to avail themselves ofpensionary benefits on their own.It is almost similar on the patternof Contributory Provident Fund(CPF), which is binding onPublic Sector Undertakings, lim-ited companies and organizationsemploying more than 10 people.

Under the NPS, an employeecontributes 10 per cent from hissalary. An equal amount is con-tributed by the Government anddeposited in the employee’saccount with the Pension FundDevelopment and RegulatoryAuthority (PFDRA). The pen-sioner can draw the pension any-where from designated postoffices and banks.

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, Feb 6: High Courthas held that out of turn promotionby the Government servants par-ticularly in the belt force cannot besought as a matter of right and aproper mechanism evolved in thisregard has to be followed strictly.

These observations were madeby Justice Janak Rak Kotwalwhile dismissing a petition filedby one Parvinder Kumar Sharma,who was seeking out of turn pro-motion on the analogy of thosewho were given this benefit forexceptional performance on theanti-militancy front.

The ground of the petitionerwas that he too was part of theSpecial Task Force which hadfought with the militants in Dodadistrict in the year 2011. His griev-ance was that while 10 respon-dents were given out of turn pro-motion by the Police Headquartersthe remaining members includingthe petitioner were given onlycash award.

Advocate Virender Bhatappearing for the petitioner sub-mitted that petitioner has beenarbitrarily ignored for out of turnpromotion in as much as his roleand performance in the operation,

which was no less than the respon-dents. He further submitted thatthe petitioner has been illegallydiscriminated and his fundamentalright of equality enshrined underArticles 14 and 16 of theConstitution of India has been vio-lated.

However, AdditionalAdvocate General, Wasim SadiqNargal submitted that petitionerhas no cause of action because outof turn promotion is granted on thebasis of outstanding performanceon anti militancy front, which is afactor to be determined by the offi-cers of the Police Department andthe administration and cannot beagitated or disputed by invokingwrit jurisdiction of the court. Healso relied upon the judgmentdelivered in Tilak Raj Thakur andOthers Versus State of J&K andOthers.

After hearing both the sides,Justice Janak Raj Kotwalobserved, “whether performanceof a police man on anti-militancyfront was exceptional or not is aquestion of fact which can bedetermined only by the competentofficers of the department and nor-mally should not be put to judicialreview unless a strong case of noncompliance with prescribed proce-

dure or discrimination is madeout”.

“No ground, much less a suffi-cient ground, for re-examining theevaluation done by the competentofficers in exercise of power ofjudicial review of this court ismade out in this case”, JusticeKotwal said while dismissing thewrit petition.

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, Feb 6: Taking cog-nizance of encroachments/ un-authorized constructions falling inthe jurisdiction of JammuDevelopment Authority, theEnforcement Wing today demol-ished some structures which wereraised over JDA land at RoopNagar EWS Colony, BhouriMarket-Kalika Colony Bahu Fort,Khanpur-Nagrota, and stoppedongoing constructions which arebeing raised without any validbuilding permission from compe-tent authority.

The anti encroachment drivewas launched on the directions ofthe Vice Chairman, JDA under thesupervision of Dr Gurvinder JeetSingh, Director Land Manage-ment JDA, Narinder Singh ChiefKhilafwarzi Officer, Ashraf

Parvez Tehsildar JDA Zone-B,Tarsem Lal Tehsildar JDA Zone-A, Pankaj Singh SambyalKhilafwarzi Officer, RajinderSingh Choudhary, ParshotamKumar, Girdhari Lal, RomeshKumar, Naresh Kumar, BootiSingh Khilafwarzi Inspectorsincluding Revenue andEnforcement field staff JDA.

During the day long drive onNational Highway from Nagrota-Jagti stretch & Roop Nagar toKote Bhalwal main road, the staffof Enforcement Wing of JDAstopped the unauthorized con-structions being raised in violationof Building Bye Laws & MasterPlan, for which notices are beingissued to defaulters under Controlof Building Operation Act, 1988.

JDA has requested the generalpublic, who intends to raise con-struction residential/commercialin the jurisdiction of JammuDevelopment Authority, that JDAis only competent authority tosanction building permission inlocal area as per Master Plan, ifany permission granted by anyother agency it is invalid, forwhich action warranted under lawshall be taken against the defaulter.

DAILY EXCELSIOR, JAMMU SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2016 (PAGE 5)

Lt Gen Hooda pays tributes to martyrs

Unprecedented delay in allotment of PRAN to JU employees turning into harassment

Ganai reviews implementation of RDD schemes* Stresses on prompt grievance redressal

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, Feb 6: Advisor tothe Governor, Khurshid AhmedGanai has asked the officers toachieve the targets set under vari-ous Rural Development Schemeswithin the stipulated time frame toensure requisite benefits reach thetargeted populace.

The Advisor was addressingofficers of Rural DevelopmentDepartment during a review-cum-

interactive meeting held heretoday. Secretary RuralDevelopment Department,Khurshid Ahmed Shah, DirectorRural Development Jammu, M.L. Raina, CEO IWMP, BashirAhmed Khan, DirectorPanchayati Raj, R. K. Bhat,Member Secretary MGNREGA,K. K. Sidha, Joint DirectorPlanning, ACDs, XEns, DPOs,POs, IWMP and other senior offi-cers of Jammu division were pres-

ent in the meeting.Mr. Ganai asked the officers

to ensure that the schemes areimplemented in a transparentmanner and in accordance withthe set guidelines. He said thatthere should be no deviation fromthe procedures to be adopted andthe local representatives of theareas should also be consultedduring implementation of theseschemes.

The Advisor also stressed on

putting in place an online griev-ance redressal system at block,district and state level for conven-ience of the people. He said that aneffective mechanism should alsobe devised for quick and timelydisposal of the problems (griev-ances) being faced by the peopleof the state especially those livingin rural and far-flung areas.

Mr. Ganai asked SecretaryRDD to expedite the release offunds so that the pace of works

gets accelerated and new projectsare also taken up. He said that therequisite process for ensuring therelease of pending funds from theCentre should also be initiated.

While directing the ACDs ofKathua, Samba, Kishtwar, Doda,Udhampur, Poonch, Rajouri andRamban to undertake regulartours of the far-flung areas in theirrespective districts, Mr. Ganaisaid that this would help them ingetting first hand informationabout implementation status ofvarious schemes and also helpthem receive requisite feedbackfrom the people of the area.

The Advisor also asked theofficers to speed up the imple-mentation of various RDDschemes like MGNREGA, IAYand IWMP, maintaining that theyhave been instrumental in chang-ing the rural landscape of the stateby way of asset creation, provid-ing employment avenues and alsogiving the much needed housingfacilities to the needy people.

Mr Gania said that the imple-mentation of the Swachh BharatAbhiyan should also be expeditedas the scheme has tremendouspotential of providing clean andpollution free environs in the ruralareas. The scheme is being per-sonally monitored by the PrimeMinister and the mission shouldbe monitored so that envisagedgoals are achieved at the earliest,he added.

Anti-encroachment drivelaunched by JDA

Out of turn promotion cannot be sought as matter of right: HC

GOC-in-C Northern Command Lt Gen DS Hooda felicitating local outstanding chil-dren on Nowshera Day.

Advisor to Governor, Khurshid Ahmed Ganai chairing ameeting on Saturday.

IGP Watali bereavedExcelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, Feb 6: Wife of Ali Mohammad Watali, former DIGand mother of IGP Shafkat Ahmed Watali has passed away.

The demise of Mrs Watali was mourned by Governor N NVohra, who has conveyed his sympathies to the members of thebereaved family and prayed for peace to the departed soul.

Director General of Police (DGP), K Rajendra Kumar con-vened a meeting at Police Headquarters (PHQ) here today tomourn the demise of Mrs Watali. The meeting was attended bysenior police officers including the officers at PHQ.