In a Decade, Jammu's SRS Library Looses 2700 Books: RTI

Daily Excelsior, 27 June,2015

Authorities Napping, Defaulters Making Hay !

RTI Reveals Ranbir Library Looses Over 2700 Books in a Decade

Jammu,26/June/2015: A piece of information received under Jammu and Kashmir Right to Information Act has revealed that how does the ‘treasurer’ rare  books from the kitty of the Jammu’s historic Sri Ranbir Singh Library is being vanishing  and the authorities there remain inattentive.

RTI Reply obtained by  activist Raman Sharma from the office of Deputy Director Libraries Jammu vide their office order no. DDL/JP/2015/429 dated 10/06/2015  discloses that during the last 10 years,  2400 books have been damaged in the SRS library and around 327 books borrowed by its members have not been returned yet.

 In the communication letter the Deputy Director in response to the applicant’s query on whether any action is being taken against the defaulters, the officer has admitted that no action is taken against any defaulting member, neither their membership suspended nor cancelled.

The books swindled by the members include very rare books on different subjects including legal , spiritual, religious, academic, historic, health, political, culture and art written by  local, national and international authors like George Morrow, Khushwant Singh, Jawahar Lal Nehru and Prof Bhim Singh. The defaulters have also taken away the  Hindi, Urdu, Dogri and Kashmiri Poetry books of famous poets of Jammu and Kashmir.

Though the estimated cost of these 327 books as told by the department is Rs. 70,510 but in fact many books still in the possession of defaulters are priceless as there are some books whose other copy or  edition is not  available in the market. It is pertinent to mention here that as per the rule book of the SRS library , a member has to return a borrowed book to the library within 14 days but list of defaulters shows that some of them taken the book in Feb/2005 but even today they did not return back the book.

In another point of query the department has informed to the applicant that SRS library has a stock of  57, 341 books as on date and in the year 2014-15 the library did not receive any book whereas the total expenditure during the last 10 years on purchasing books is over 5 million rupees. (Rs. 5363541 ). 43 pages information carrying name, address and membership number of the 327 defaulters is also provided along with the reply.

While giving his reaction over the reply served by the directorate of libraries, the information seeker Raman Sharma said loss of over 2700 books is unacceptable and there must be some responsibility fixed on the negligent officers. Sharma said Books that are called as ‘treasure’ cannot be allowed to take away by defaulters and the people at the helm of affairs closing their eyes. He also demanded immediate action against the defaulters and publication of their name and address in the print and electronic media besides on the government websites.

Dainik Jagran 27 June 2015

also Published in State Times, Journey Line, Greater kashmir, JK Newspoint, Early Times, Rising Kashmir, State Observer and others.

The News Write up by:  Sahil Rasgotra    on Treasure--Books and Libraries Published on 28/May/2017
http://epaper.thenewsnow.co.in/index.aspx?page=13

Beware of Asterisk *

The Swindling Stars and Gullible Consumers

Raman Sharma

The   ’ ASTERISK’    is a Latin word and also been used in Greek, literally meaning a little star, academically in English language the symbol of word asterisk   ‘ * ‘   is used   as a footnote or  an explanation or a comment at the bottom of a page that refers back to a specific part of the text. But in modern days of consumerism the symbol of asterisk word is used to complicate facts, dupe, deceive, defraud, mislead, hide the truth and simply to rob the consumers.

In present era of print and electronic media, intentionally or ignorantly our lifestyle, dressing pattern,  eating habit  is by and large controlled or at least motivated by the content served in the media as direct advertisement or as an advertorial.  Mostly of us even do not understand that we do not eat what is good for us but we eat what is orchestrated in the media, we do not buy things which are essential for us but we are compelled to buy such products which the company wants to sell, the citizens are trapped emotionally to purchase such products that factually may not be necessary for them but an impression is created that the world is empty without having those articles or product.

The corporate companies with the help of skilled, intelligent  and creative advertisement makers and marketing experts knit a web around the innocent consumer that he falls in their trap. If we compare the expenditure incurred by the famous brand names in India for the production of any product or article  and then the amount spent on the marketing and advertising then we can understand that at least 60 to 70 percentage of gross revenue is  spent on advertisement, advertorials  and marketing, the figures may vary but different surveys suggest that the percent is no where less than 50 percent.  

In these advertisements we see famous (stars) icons of film, sports, glamour world claiming so much of their product and tutoring the viewers and readers only  goody goody things of the marketing product, they never even make slight mention of the possible hazards of the product. Today these stars are selling almost everything right from Luxurious flats to Sanitary Napkins, Tractor to Chewing Gum, Fairness Cream to Insurance products, obviously their appeal makes a sentimental impact on the potential customers and they tend towards the recommended product.  Not only these living stars cheat the innocent viewers readers but the typographical symbol stated above also do the same, it also cheats the consumers. Many a times after reading an advertisement in print or electronic media we rush to market to buy a specific product believing the content of the advertisement but on ground when we enter the showroom or sale venue we are being told the advertisement was conditional and we missed the symbol * that donates  “Conditions Apply”, we feel so helpless and humiliated, we are make to believe that it was our mistake but in fact this is corporate gimmick to clandestinely looting innocent consumers.

This practice of Asterisk or little star is to covertly burden an innocent consumer with the hidden cost which is never directly told to him but only revealed at the time of payment. For example the Tour and Travel companies offers x amount of money for 4 days holiday package in Singapore but when it comes to payment only then these hidden costs, the tax amount, service tax etc revealed and thus again the trapped consumers felt helpless and has to bear the burden.

The present piece of writing is not  intended  to bash the advertisement makers and the corporates but of course we cannot close our eyes when these advertisements that inform less and hide more about their product and cost and ultimately the innocent consumer becomes the victim  of these covert advertisements. It is also true that the advertisements allows freedom of choice to the consumer to buy the most genuine product amongst the range of  variants of any article in the market. The prevention is always better than the cure therefore as a responsible consumer and citizen it is our duty to remain vigilant once again it is requested to all the esteemed readers to beware of both stars, the living stars and the symbol * at least while going for shopping. The government agencies, the media and the consumer rights activists should also come forward in highlighting the meaning of this little star. 

PUBLISHED IN JOURNEY LINES, THE NORTHLINES.

http://journeyline.in/newsdet.aspx?q=83260 

Stop Rhetoric, Now Act against Land Mafia

" We cannot allow the goons to mock our law and order machinery under the mask of being politicians, Policeman or revenue official"

by: Rama Sharma

Here in our state  we all know about the loot of state land by the politicians and officers but it becomes more serious and worrisome  with the recent statement of Bali Bhagat  , Jammu and Kashmir ,Minister for Forests and Environment where the minister has openly admitted   the nexus between land grabbers, police officers, revenue officials and senior politicians of the state who have encroached upon a large part of forest land.  The minister has also made shocking revelation  that  the government has information that these politicians have got the record of such land destroyed in a systematic way. Though he also assured that the records from archives would be used to   retrieve the land from illegal occupants.

This is high time, the state government should stop blame game and come clean on this serious issue, we cannot allow the goons to mock our law and order machinery under the mask of being politicians, Policeman or revenue official.

At least this minister has shown some guts to speak up on this serious issue which is otherwise not even whispered by many other politicians. The allegation of the Forest Minister is very serious in nature and needs immediate action against these land  mafias. In his statement the minister has acknowledged the influence of Bigwigs in this loot of state land without any fear of law. It is unfortunate that despite knowing the facts about the involvement of police officers, revenue officials and politicians yet no action is taken against them. It would have been better that for the sake of transparency if the minister had revealed  the names  of these corrupt politicians and police officers who till now are enjoying perks and official protocol, who instead of being behind the bars are enjoying cool air of air conditioners in the multi storey bungalows. 

Anyhow,Taking  suo moto cognizance of the statement of the minister, the Jammu and Kashmir State Vigilance Commission should also swing into action and take legal action in this matter without any further delay. Similarly, Director General of Police till now should have  at least ordered a departmental probe to identify the black sheeps in the police department who do not hesitate to grab government land using their official men and machinery, there are many instances where these policemen in proximity with Goons usurp not only state land but also private land of citizens and pressurise them to either sell off their land for peanut or just face the illegal wrath of these Goons in Khaki.

Out of 22 districts, there is no district in the state where the State land, forest land, Irrigation Land belonging to government is not illegally occupied by the miscreants and that too with the full support and patronage of the revenue officials, in fact no one can even dare to occupy one inch of land without the connivance of the revenue department. The respective deputy commissioners of all the districts should also act tough against the rogue elements in their offices and put an embargo on this practice.

Our forests, graveyards, cremation grounds, temples, other religious places, schools, rivers, Khads, wetlands, hills, plains, Nallahs and Playgrounds nothing is spared by these land mafia and our government helplessly remain mute spectator.

Our officers are brave enough to dismantle small Kullahs and temporary Rehris Pharis of poor people but what about those who have built mansions on government land , why these brave officers, Khilaafwarzi officers of the JDA,SDA, LAWDA, JMC, SMC, Revenue Department and police department hesitate even to enter the premises of these white collared goons.  Many of us might remember the statement of our former revenue minister Raman Bhalla where he had assured that the state government would invoke Public Safety Act against the land grabbers but unfortunately it was just rhetoric, not even a single land grabber was ever even arrested for usurping the state land. State Land worth billions of rupees is under illegal occupation of the miscreants who without any legal right playing hide and seek with the government, in a few cases where even some honest officers took legal action against the defaulters, these defaulters have taken the shield of our slow judicial process and the matter remain pending there in the honourable Courts and then again our government departments do not seriously pursue these cases in the courts of the law. 

There must be coordination between the executive wing, Law department and the prosecution wing of the state to act against these mafias. Let’s hope, the present dispensation of PDP-BJP act and break this unholy nexus of Police-Politicans and Land grabbers. 

Published in kashmir Times on 10th June, Journey Lines, on 11th of June, 2015.

NHRC approached for security of J&K panchayat members

zeenews

http://zeenews.india.com/news/jammu-and-kashmir/nhrc-approached-for-security-of-jandk-panchayat-members_810412.html

Jammu: A social activist from here has filed a petition before National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) seeking directions for the Jammu and Kashmir government for providing security to panchayat members (elected village heads) in wake of militants' threat to them.  

Raman Sharma, who is also a Right to Information (RTI) activist, said that he has approached the NHRC with a petition, "praying that after the open threat from Hizbul (Mujahideen) chief Syed Salahuddin, the panchayat members of the state along with their family members are under high pressure and worried about their life."

The petition addressed to the NHRC chairman is for seeking direction for the "state and the union government to ensure adequate security arrangements for the elected village representatives."

Expressing concern over the matter of threat given by Pakistan-based Salahudin who is also the chairman of the United Jihad Council (UJC), Sharma in his petition has said: "If no prompt action is taken in this case, then these innocent panchayat members may succumb to the the diktat of the terror commander where he has asked them to either submit their resignation or face the consequences."

Sharma blamed both state and central government for being insincere towards this serious issue as they have not assured any sort of protection to any panchayat member.

The activist has urged the NHRC to issue necessary directions to both the government to take prompt action concerning the lives of more than 33,000 panchayat members and their family.

The Hizbul chief had in a recent interview to a media organization said: "Panches and sarpanches (heads and members of rural self-government institutions) are exploited by India to project Kashmir as pro-India, and as such, they will continue to be targeted...We call on them to resign from their posts and not allow themselves to be used to undermine the liberation movement in Kashmir."

Till now a total of 10 panchayat members have been killed by the militants in the state since polls that concluded June last year.

This and continuing threat of militants forced about 600 elected village panches and sarpanches to resign in the state till date in different phases.

IANS  

                                                                                         

COPY OF PETITION TO NHRC BY RAMAN SHARMA

--------------------------------------------

TETX MATTER OF PETITION TO NHRC

                      MOST URGENT

Honorable Chairperson,

National Human Rights Commission, NHRC                                   Dated: 07/Nov/2012   

(Faridkot House, Copernicus Marg, New Delhi, PIN 110001)

                                   

Subject: Life threat to 33000 elected Panchayat Members in Jammu and Kashmir.

Honourable Sir,

Appellant is an ordinary citizen of India residing in the state of Jammu and Kashmir. I seek your permission to submit a very important issue concerning lives of more than 33000 human souls to your kind notice and necessary directions. The details are as follow:

You might be aware of the unfortunate fact that 3--4 days back, terror outfit Hizbul Mujahidin’s Chief Syed Salahudin who is operating from cross LoC has openly threatened the elected Panches and Sarpanches of Jammu and Kashmir State to resign from their posts or get ready to face  the dire consequences. The statement of the Hizbul Chief was also published in various national newspapers of the country.

 Sir, this open threat by the terror outfit’s commander has busted a sense of fear and panic amongst      

 the elected Panches, Sarpanches and their family members. Anyhow appreciably there are some brave Panchayat representatives who refused to obey the diktats of terror Organization and appealed other colleagues not to resign under any pressure.

But today the fact of the ground situation is that there is obviously a sense of fear-psychosis amongst these Panchayat representatives and they have termed this threat as “Death Warrant”. Their family members are also living under huge pressure and trauma.

Unfortunately, neither the State government of Jammu and Kashmir nor the Government of India have assured any sort of protection to any Panchayat member. Both governments have failed to en-trust these village representatives about their safety and security. And if no immediate action is taken, then these Panchayat members may succumb to the unholy diktats of the terrorists who want to weaken the institutions of democracy.

Under the constitution, it is the responsibility of the government to ensure protection to each member of the society, but without assigning any valid reason both the governments in this case have raised their hands and did nothing for the protection of Panchayat members who are strengthening the principle of democracy at grass root level.

Now, through this representation I request you to kindly issue necessary directions to both the governments to take prompt action in this serious matter relating to lives of more than 3300 panches, sarpanches and their family members.  It is also requested to seek detailed report from the state government of J & K about the action taken by it on the issue.

Once again an early action on this appeal is prayed and highly solicited.

                                      

                                                                                                                        Yours Faithfully,

                                                                                                                                   

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            RAMAN SHARMA,

Postal Address: __XXXXXXX__  Jammu-180001( J & K) Mobile. 9796811012, e.mail: aramansharma143@gmail.com.