Poonch TODAY English Newspaper

03/11/2024

93 Inf Brigade organised Taekwondo matched on the eve of Poonch Link Up day

03/11/2024

Appointment of Sat Sharma as J&K BJP president celebrated by Poonch BJP leaders

02/11/2024

Three injured critically in the collision of two bikes on Bhainch road, shifted to hospital for treatment

02/11/2024

Major fire tragedy averted in mohalla Panditan as timely action by fire services saved many houses

01/11/2024

With a massive mandate behind his back, fulfilling people's aspirations would be a challenging task for new MLA Haveli Ajaz Jan
* Poonch Haveli always denied a cabinet berth
* Will CM Omar Abdullah intervene?
SALIL RAINA
(POONCH TODAY NEWS)
POONCH: Newly elected MLA Haveli Ajaz Jan has created history by taking 41,807 votes with a 42% plus vote share, but despite taking a record number of votes, never taken by anyone in the history of Poonch elections, Jan was not blessed with a cabinet berth. Considered a loyal lieutenant of the party, the Jan family dominated the Poonch Haveli politics for nearly three decades and won the constituency four times. Late G.M. Jan took 16,150 votes in the 1996 assembly elections with 39.62% vote share. He defeated Late Yashpaul Sharma, who took 10,722 votes, while Late Ch. Bashir Naaz got 10,547 votes. In the 2002 assembly elections, Late G.M. Jan, in a straight contest with the then Congress candidate Late Yashpaul Sharma, got 27,364 votes with 47.41% of the vote share, while Yashpaul Sharma got 26,718 votes with 46.3%. However, after the death of Late G.M. Jan, Jahangir Mir won the 2007 by-elections as a Congress candidate by taking 20,697 votes. The late Yashpaul Sharma, who fought as an independent candidate, got 16,299 votes, while Ajaz Jan, who fought for the first time, stood third by taking 16,227 votes. Shah Mohd Tantray got 7,935 votes. However, in the 2008 assembly elections, Ajaz Jan took 28,297 votes with 39.62% of the vote share. In the 2014 assembly elections, the then PDPs winning candidate Shah Mohd Tantray took 19,488 votes, while Ajaz Jan got 15,976 votes. But during the recently held assembly elections, Ajaz Jan took a record number of 41,807 votes in an almost one-sided contest with 42.72% of the vote share. Despite taking a record number of 41,807 votes, young Ajaz Jan couldn’t break the record of his father, who took 47.41% vote share in the 2002 assembly elections. The data available with “POONCH TODAY” shows that the Jan family continuously dominated Poonch politics for nearly three decades with around 40% of vote share. Despite having a massive record in favor of the National Conference, the Jan family was never blessed with a cabinet berth. In the politics of Poonch district, Surankote and Mendhar assembly constituencies got opportunities to get a cabinet berth a number of times, but the Poonch Haveli constituency never blessed with a cabinet berth for decades, and it’s a cause of big concern for the voters of Poonch Haveli, opine political pundits. However, Young Jan has a number of challenges lying ahead from a development point of view. After taking oath as MLA, Jan visited Raja Sukhdev Singh Hospital Poonch and took stock of facilities provided to the patients. He also issued on-the-spot directions to the concerned officers to strengthen facilities in the hospital. There are a number of important issues on which Ajaz Jan has to work, like alternative circular roads for the Poonch city as the only main road is overloaded as there are no alternate roads in the city. For years, the issue of circular roads remained in the limelight, but no action has been taken yet. As a result, the main road has become highly congested. Strengthening infrastructure in rural areas, posting of specialized doctors, brining Poonch on the tourism map, poor condition of Mandi-Chandak road, damaged Nangali sahib bridge, illegal encroachments at various places including government assets, illegal construction in “Red Zone," no master plan for Poonch, poor water and power supply, ration issues, rising unemployment among the educated youth, and a number of public issues are coming every day on which Ajaz Jan has to work on priority. Poonch Haveli has blessed the Jan family with victory four times, so the onus lies on Ajaz Jan to fulfill all the genuine expectations of the people. It doesn’t matter whether Ajaz Jan was given a cabinet berth or not. As a trusted soldier of Abdullahs, Jan has to raise the developmental standard of his constituency in addition to meeting the expectations of the people. But as far as cabinet berth for Poonch Haveli is concerned, which was ignored for decades, it's time for the ruling dispensation to think over this because only three leaders enjoyed the MOS/Deputy Minister statues from the Poonch Haveli, and they were Late M.D. Bandey, Late G.M. Mir Poonchi, and Late G.A. Ganai. Both G.M. Mir Poonchi and M.D. Bandey were elite educated leaders of their time. The late Mohd Din Bandey also remained Vice-Chairman of the Pahari advisory board after the 1996 assembly elections, but as far as cabinet berth was concerned, Poonch haveli was ignored time and again, particularly during the last few decades, while Surankote and Mendhar constituencies enjoyed cabinet berth various times. Late Choudhary Mohd Aslam, Late Lal Mohd Sabar, Nisar Ahmed, and Late Rafiq Khan enjoyed the cabinet berth, and now the latest is the inclusion of Javed Ahmed Rana from Mendhar in the newly elected Chief Minister Omar Abdullah’s cabinet. Now, with more than 41,807 votes taken by the National Conference, Poonch Haveli deserves to be recognized in the cabinet because the Haveli constituency was always ignored for a cabinet berth, which shows that a huge injustice was done with this elite constituency of the border district. It's high time for the Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah, who is known for his straightforward approach, to address the sentiments of the people of Poonch Haveli, who were ignored for decades by various governments. Will the Chief Minister Omar Abdullah intervene into the most genuine issue for the people of Poonch Haveli constituency? Only time will tell.

01/11/2024

Poor performance in HADP/CSS/UT Capex: Will the J&K agriculture minister order an inquiry against inefficient agriculture officers of Poonch? Part-3
* Subordinate agriculture employees are facing harassment
POONCH TODAY NEWS
POONCH: In the previous two editions of “POONCH TODAY,” the number of loopholes of the agriculture department Poonch were brought into the public domain. As a result, some tainted officers who were involved in maximum foul plays over the years under HADP/CSS/UT Capex and gave massive setbacks to the government exchequer were seen giving statements in the air by saying that nobody can do any harm to them and if any emergency arises, they will handle it by showing paperwork before the high ups. The Chief Agriculture Officer, who rather than bringing the system on track after exposure of foul plays by “POONCH TODAY," has started harassing lower-ranking officials of his department in a more stringent way. A source privy to the development in the administration said that C.A.O. and his close one officers, who are considered to be masterminds of every foul play under HADP/CSS and UT Capex, are in a tensed state of mind and don’t know how to proceed further. Before the publication of stories in “POONCH TODAY," the C.A.O. reportedly managed everything behind the curtains at the Civil Secretariat and Agriculture Directorate levels to get a lucrative posting further, but after the publication of back-to-back stories in "POONCH TODAY" related to massive blunders in the agriculture department Poonch, he has activated the same process strongly and wanted to leave Poonch by any means, but sources in the Civil Secretariat told “POONCH TODAY” that the high ups of the agriculture department are not happy with him. On the one hand, the top brass of the agriculture department has adopted a pin drop silence by not taking action against the erring officials of the agriculture department Poonch for their reported foul plays under different schemes, but on the other hand, they are not happy internally. Sources also said that a top officer of the agriculture department is silently supporting the C.A.O. and his teams, while other officers are not happy with the newspaper reports that are being published regularly by “POONCH TODAY” against the department. Moreover, some blue-eyed officials who joined the department at Poonch and were promoted several times in addition to enjoying their “Malaidaar tenure” were never transferred from Poonch, and it also raised a big question mark on the top brass of the agriculture department. It is important to mention here that the prestigious HADP project of the government of India is considered a master plan for strengthening the agriculture economy in a more rapid way through its twenty-nine projects, but over the years, the blue-eyed officials of the agriculture department Poonch played a massive foul, also in centrally sponsored schemes and UT Capex. The polygreen houses were not established as per the norms because some high-profile department officers had a fixed setting with the companies that used to establish polygreen houses. The department officials also have a fixed understanding with some private establishments that used to sell machinery, tractors, and related items. If a detailed investigation is carried out during the last six financial years regarding the purchase of different kinds of items by the farmers, the government will come to know that only some selected establishments were allowed to sell items because those have a fixed commission with the department officials. On paper, the department officials showed proper expenditure, but in the official letters, which are available with “POONCH TODAY," it is seen that the main thrust of the tainted officials is to show 100% performance on the paper; it doesn’t matter whether those works were executed on the ground or not. Some subordinate officials were also directed forcefully by the top chair to clear the bills, but when the concerned subordinate officers objected, they faced huge harassment from the C.A.O. These days, the system is online in maximum schemes, and in this case also, the C.A.O. openly detected fake cases from the Galutha area of Mendhar, and it shows how much fraud was executed in the department when the system was not in an online mode. Sources in the administration said that only some officials are close to the C.A.O., and the top chairs used to dance to their tunes in every affairs, but behind the curtains, those mastermind people played havoc with the government funds over the years without any check from the government. Under maximum schemes of the departments, the farmers are allowed to buy machinery items from wherever they can, but the shrewd department officials tactfully trap the farmers and force them to purchase items through GEM, and in return, they get a hefty commission from the companies. The innocent farmers, who have no ground knowledge about various aspects of the government schemes, find themselves trapped with the shred department officials maximum times. The C.A.O., who has failed to justify his paper performance under various schemes to hoodwink the government, now has adopted a new strategy to divert the attention of his subordinate employees, and that is to put pressure on the employees by questionable means. Moreover, there are also reports that some people have approached the department under the Transparency Act with malafide intentions after getting huge information from back-to-back stories of “POONCH TODAY” against the agriculture department, as these days, the yellow journalism is on the rise with the involvement of non-professionals in the fourth estate. However, a detailed inquiry is needed under all the schemes to detect the modus operandi of the tainted officials of the department who, over the years, looted the government exchequer by preparing fake achievement reports under different schemes, especially under CSS and HADP. The J&K UT has recently got a new government, and the agriculture ministry is being headed by Javed Ahmed Dar. Now the question arises: Will the new agriculture minister order an inquiry against inefficient officers of the agriculture department, Poonch, who were involved in massive foul plays over the years under various schemes? The Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah, also said that there would be no compromise with transparency and accountability. Omar also directed the minister to either perform or perish, as there are a number of contenders for the minister's post. Now, it would be interesting to see whether the agriculture minister Javed Ahemd Dar will implement the vision of his Chief Minister on the ground by bringing to book tainted officials of the agriculture department, Poonch, and those sitting at higher levels who remained partners in crime with those sitting at the ground level and gave massive setbacks to the taxpayers money.

01/11/2024

Mismanagement during the crucial hours led to the BJP's dismissal performance in Poonch-Rajouri districts, admits Central BJP leadership
POONCH TODAY NEWS
POONCH: In the last edition of “POONCH TODAY,” it was published that the poor organization skills of the Poonch BJP led to a big disappointment in assembly elections, and the same facts, which were explained in detail by the newspaper, have been accepted by the Central BJP leadership to a certain extent. High-ranking sources within the BJP camp informed "POONCH TODAY" that the J&K BJP leaders' statements regarding the BJP's poor performance in the twin border districts of Poonch and Rajouri have not convinced the BJP's top brass. It is important to mention here that the traditional BJP cadre was ignored and parachute workers were given every responsibility to lead the party in the sensitive border region, but those parachute leaders, who had their political genes of NC, Congress, and PDP, failed to adopt the BJP's way of implementing the strategy on the ground. However, the traditional RSS-backed BJP cadre, which was fully aware of the various kinds of election strategies, was sidelined, and it impacted the party badly. People with unconvinced credentials were allowed to enjoy full freedom in the party; as a result, the party performed poorly in the region, although it stood at number two position at maximum seats. But the inability of the party to convert the number-second performance into winning has given a big setback to the central BJP leadership. Although the BJP president Ravinder Raina tried his best to please the Pahari and Gujjar communities by solving their long-pending demands, including the grant of ST status to the Pahari ethnic tribe and political reservation to the Gujjars, the saffron brigade failed to get what it expected. The party leadership was expecting more than five seats alone from the Poonch-Rajouri region. A senior Jammu-based BJP leader said, “We were surprised by the act of Paharis. We trusted them and took a historic first step by addressing their demand for Pahari status, but look what we got in return.” On the other hand, the party also fulfilled various demands of the Gujjar community, including the political reservation, but even from the Gujjars side, the party did not get as many votes as expected by the top BJP brass. Reports available with “POONCH TODAY” say that the central BJP leadership is not happy with the performance of BJP leadership in the Poonch-Rajouri region, and it is likely that all issues will come up for discussion sooner than later, and those leaders who failed to perform well for the party may be asked to explain their positions before the top brass takes any important decisions for the future. Although the party has performed well in the Jammu region by winning 29 seats, the underprivileged performance of the BJP in the Poonch-Rajouri districts is not digestible to the top BJP brass. Meanwhile, after the big debacle of the BJP in the Poonch districts, some parachute party leaders who were given important responsibilities have cleaned their homes and offices with BJP symbols, posters, and flags to give the impression that they may disappear from the party in the near future. They are the same parachute leaders who were trusted by the BJP by ignoring their parent cadre, and now, as per their traditional habit of backstabbing and changing loyalties, they have stated looking for new options as these opportunist people believe that the BJP has no future in the Poonch-Rajouri districts. Those who shifted various parties just to protect their business interests are in a state of confusion about their future as the party’s performance from their polling booths has exposed themselves badly. Now, keeping in view of the future elections, it would be interesting to know what type of decision the BJP's central leadership will take on the party’s poor performance in the Poonch-Rajouri districts.

01/11/2024

Thanks to the poor approach of E.O. Municipality, Poonch City has become a jungle with encroachments everywhere
* District administration is in slumber
POONCH TODAY NEWS
POONCH: The main responsibility of the municipality is to clean the city in addition to taking action against encroachments of any kind, but due to the poor approach of the E.O. Poonch Municipality, the city has become a jungle with encroachment at every place. Right from the parade to Hathi Than Bazar, and then from the main market to the bus stand Poonch through Poonch Fort Market, encroachments have become a daily routine. The entire market has been captured at maximum places, but the E.O. Poonch Municipality seems to be in deep slumber. Just to hoodwink the people, a sanitation drive was started during Diwali day by the municipality. The same approach was visible when the municipality had its elected body, and during those times also, no proper action against various types of illegal encroachments was executed on the ground because the then political committee focused on vision-less issues and did not want to face people's anger. Due to the poor approach of the Poonch Municipality, the historic Poonch city has become a jungle. Although Poonch municipality officials are seen taking weak actions against encroachments by calling some YouTubers to befool the public that they have taken action, such types of actions used to take place once in a blue moon. The entire institution of the municipality has become a den of corrupt activities. If one analyzes the performance of Poonch municipality for the last six years, one can find that no concrete works for the beautification of Poonch city were carried out. There was a passenger shed in Bus Stand Poonch where some beggars and poor people used to live that was demolished, and in its palace, some shops have been constructed. Huge compromise had taken place in the allotment of shops as some self-styled social workers, relatives of those on chairs, and political leaders were given shops in violation of rules. In front of Poonch Fort to Bus Stand area, a large number of illegal Khokas have been constructed, but the visionless and tainted officials of Poonch Municipality never took action against those illegal Khokas. During the last few years, the municipality did not witness any visionary leaders to run its affairs smoothly with a creative thinker state of mind. As a result, due to various loopholes, the city has lost its sheen. The most shocking factor is that successive Deputy Commissioners also turned a blind eye on the issue of Poonch City turning into a garbage dumping site. Right now, the entire market has been encroached as there are a number of illegal khokhas constructed adjacent to the main road near Poonch fort, but no action from the Poonch Municipality to clean the area has shown that the system is on the mercy of God. The common man feels huge inconvenience during visits to various markets of the city due to huge encroachment of market space. The inner markets like the J&K Bank lane of the city are also facing a similar crisis where people are seen encroaching lane and other streets openly, thereby causing huge inconvenience to the people. It's an alarming trend in the city. Moreover, a number of illegal structures at various places were allowed to be constructed in an open violation of rules. Municipality officials used to visit the sites and collect favors and then never come again. The entire Poonch Municipality, due to its visionless approach of the Executive Officer, has turned the elite department into an institution of corruption and horrible illegal practices. The silence of the Deputy Commissioner office is also adding fuel to the fire. The public of Poonch is suffering from this brazen menace of illegal encroachments of markets. It is high time that those responsible for running the affairs of the municipality rise from their deep slumber to start working in the public interest by conducting regular anti-encroachment drives. Are municipality officials collecting “Hafta” from shopkeepers for not taking anti-encroachment drives? These things need to be detected by the government in the public interest, feel civil society members.

01/11/2024

Check e-paper at www.poonchtoday.com

01/11/2024

https://www.poonchtoday.com/2024/11/01/with-a-massive-mandate-behind-his-back-fulfilling-peoples-aspirations-would-be-a-challenging-task-for-new-mla-haveli-ajaz-jan-poonch-haveli-always-denied-a-cabinet-berth-will-cm-omar-abdulla/

With a massive mandate behind his back, fulfilling people’s aspirations would be a challenging task for new MLA Haveli Ajaz Jan; Poonch Haveli always denied a cabinet berth, Will CM Omar Abdullah intervene? SALIL RAINA (POONCH TODAY NEWS) POONCH: Newly elected MLA Haveli Ajaz Jan has created histo...

01/11/2024

https://www.poonchtoday.com/2024/11/01/poor-performance-in-hadp-css-ut-capex-will-the-j-subordinate-agriculture-employees-are-facing-haras/

Poor performance in HADP/CSS/UT Capex: Will the J&K agriculture minister order an inquiry against inefficient agriculture officers of Poonch? Part-3; Subordinate agriculture employees are facing harassment POONCH TODAY NEWS POONCH: In the previous two editions of “POONCH TODAY,” the number of lo...

01/11/2024

https://www.poonchtoday.com/2024/11/01/mismanagement-during-the-crucial-hours-led-to-the-bjps-dismissal-performance-in-poonch-rajouri-districts-admits-central-bjp-leadership/

Mismanagement during the crucial hours led to the BJP’s dismissal performance in Poonch-Rajouri districts, admits Central BJP leadership POONCH TODAY NEWS POONCH: In the last edition of “POONCH TODAY,” it was published that the poor organization skills of the Poonch BJP led to a big disappoint...

01/11/2024

https://www.poonchtoday.com/2024/11/01/thanks-to-the-poor-approach-of-e-o-municipality-poonch-city-has-become-a-jungle-with-encroachments-everywhere-district-administration-is-in-slumber/

Thanks to the poor approach of E.O. Municipality, Poonch City has become a jungle with encroachments everywhere; District administration is in slumber POONCH TODAY NEWS POONCH: The main responsibility of the municipality is to clean the city in addition to taking action against encroachments of any....

01/11/2024

https://www.poonchtoday.com/2024/11/01/34th-poonch-district-open-t-t-championship-concludes-rachit-wins-mens-title-ridhik-wins-youth/

34th Poonch District Open T.T. Championship concludes; Rachit wins Men’s title, Ridhik wins Youth POONCH TODAY NEWS POONCH: Rachit Kandhari wins the men’s single title of the 34th Poonch District Open T.T. championship, beating Adnan 11-9,11-9,8-11,7-11,11-9 in the finals of a keenly contested c...

31/10/2024

Newly selected JKAS officer Fazeela Sarwar Khan Janjua given a warm welcome at Ari, Mendhar.

31/10/2024

Poonch Police officials led by Dy.SP HQRS Pankaj Sudan conducted a security review of Poonch City.

29/10/2024

Sanitation drive launched by Poonch Muncipality near bus stand

29/10/2024

DGPC Poonch congratulated Omar Abdullah's government, highlight demands of Sikh community