Evacuation of residents stranded in West Asia
With hundreds of residents stranded in the West Asian countries after suspension of international flights, the J&K government has approached the Centre for evacuation of the UT residents stranded in Dubai, Oman and Iran ahead of Eid-ul-Fitr. J&K chief secretary B V R Subrahmanyam has written to Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla and sought his personal intervention in prioritising the evacuation of stranded residents of Jammu and Kashmir. “The J&K Government has received requests from its residents stranded in Oman, Dubai and Iran for their early evacuation. Their prolonged stay abroad during the Covid pandemic has made them restless and fearful of contracting the disease in a foreign country. They are also desirous of celebrating Eid, which is likely to be celebrated on May 25, in Jammu and Kashmir,” the chief secretary said.
J&K Info dept sacks 45 contractual employees
Amid the Covid pandemic, J&K’s Information department has terminated the services of 45 contractual staff who were serving for the last five years. The 45 stringers, who include 22 reporters, 9 translators, 13 cameramen and 1 video editor, was hired in 2015-2016 during the PDP-BJP coalition government’s rule. The disengagement of the employees has come at a time when the chances of new employment are bleak due to the lockdown. The stringers were engaged with ministers, advisors, offices of Chief Secretary, Divisional Commissioner, Deputy Commissioners and Media Facilitation Centre Srinagar (after scrapping of Article 370 last year). The sacked employees are mulling over whether to approach the CAT bench.
Muslims perform last rites of Sikh
Sending a message of communal harmony, Muslims from a village in central Kashmir’s Ganderbal district, performed the last rites of a Sikh carpenter, who passed away last week. Ranveer Singh, a resident of Punjab, was working as a carpenter in Wakura area of Ganderbal. He died last week after suffering a cardiac arrest. With remote possibility of the body being shifted to his native place due to Covid-19 lockdown, local Muslims performed the last rites of the deceased carpenter by arranging everything for the cremation. He was cremated in Wakura area.
Pvt schools allowed to charge tuition fee
The government has allowed private schools to charge tuition fee on monthly basis instead of quarterly basis during the lockdown period. “Only tuition fees shall be charged from students on monthly basis instead of quarterly basis for the lockdown period,” reads a circular issued by J&K government. It said no fee hike shall be made during the academic session 2020-21. Annual fees, if any, can be charged monthly on pro-rata basis after schools reopen. The circular has drawn strong criticism from the parents’ bodies of the private schools, who say that schools had been charging tuition fee and bus charge from the students even during the lockdown period which was initiated last year.
Fayaz wani
Our correspondent in Jammu and Kashmir
fayazwani123@gmail.com