JAMMU, AUGUST 13: As the Government has decided to open up the religious places in the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir from August 16, Divisional Commissioner Jammu, Sanjeev Verma, today he held a meeting with representatives of religious organisations  Heads to discuss Standard Operating Procedure SOP.


The meeting was attended by  R K Srangal, besides the representatives and heads of religious organisations and other officials.

The General instructions (SOP)s among others call for religious organisations to set up Covid-19 safety committees, which may consist of volunteers/sevadars/employees. These committees shall be required to ensure adherence to the SOP. Persons who are above 60 years o, persons with co-morbidities, pregnant women and children below the age of 10 years are advised to stay home.

All visitors are required to maintain a distance of 6 feet from each other, all visitors are to be allowed enter only if they are using face covers/masks, only asymptomatic persons would be allowed entry into the premises, washing hands, feet with soap and water before entering premises. All places of worship will maintain a list of persons (with contactable details) entering their places which may be required for the purpose of contact tracing.

Touching of statues, idols or holy books etc. should not be permitted; large congregational gatherings shall not be allowed inside premises only individual prayers to be allowed.

The Divisional Commissioner also stressed on the need to sanitize the premises on a regular basis by fixation of timing of fumigation, cleanliness.



The Divisional Commissioner Also appreciated the religious heads for their cooperation And Contribution in the containment of Corona Virus and said that they played a significant role by spreading awareness among people. He also appreciated the general public for the cooperation in fighting covid-19.

The Divisional Commissioner appraised the religious heads about the instructions, SOPs to be followed at places of the worship. He Have also shared the copy of SOP with the religious heads And Others  and Pleased them to follow all instructions Made by administrtion.

Various other important instructions were given to religious heads and the Divisional Commissioner urged them to follow these to combat the spread of Covid-19.

The religious heads assured to extend their full cooperation with the administration to contain the spread of Covid-19.

50% markets likely to open from Sunday

Srinagar, Aug 13: District Development Commissioner Dr Shahid Iqbal Chowdary Thursday said that no need for lockdown may arise if people follow Covid SOP’s properly.
  
Chowdary was talking to Reporters here in Kashmir capital Srinagar.
  
He said district administration Srinagar has held meetings with religious heads and traders  Other officials and if the administration will open up 50% markets from 16 of this month onwards, SOP’s have to be adhered. If we all follow SOP’s properly, I don’t think any need for extending lockdown may arise,” Chowdary  said. 
 
In response to a question, Dr Shahid Iqbal Chowdary said that the sharp spike in Coronavirus cases forced administration to impose lockdown. “Experts are saying that more Covid cases may emerge in Srinagar and there are bleak chances of seeing a fall down in these cases in coming days. It’s very important that we all follow Government SOP’s, use face masks, maintain physical distance and take all other precautionary measures,” he said adding that most of the people violated SOP’s last time when lockdown was eased out,
   
Chowdary said that Srinagar administration interacted with over 3,000 religious heads and: “we are sure, these religious leaders will follow SOP’s when religious places will be thrown open for people.”
 
 He said future information about lockdown will be publicized and a separate notification in this regard will be issued.
 
 Chowdary said that recovered Covid cases in Srinagar are still more than the active cases and it is a good sign.

Shah Faesal reached out to National Security Advisor Ajit Doval before he quit party; open to IAS return


Bureaucrat who turned into politician Shah Faesal, who left the party he himself founded, quit only after making contact with top officials in the Union government. Faesal had a talk with National Security Adviser (NSA) Ajit Doval before informing his party colleagues in the Jammu & Kashmir People’s Movement (JKPM) that he was leaving, HT has learnt.

Faesal, 37, who hits the headlines in 2009, when he became the 1st person from Kashmir to top the IAS exam, acknowledged that he has been in touch with officials in New Delhi, although he declined to specify details.

“There has been a lot of speculation about the conversations I’m having with people in the government. I have been a member of IAS, and it’s nothing strange if I’m meeting people in the government,” he said.

“I have to live and work here and this is perfectly normal,” he added.

The NSA was not available for comment.

Faesal suggested that he is not opposed to rejoining the service, and there is talk that he could be reinstated.

Faesal, who once promised to be the voice of Kashmir’s young people has come a long way. His views, too, have changed. “I think we need to understand that in 1949 national consensus was about incorporating Article 370 and the 2019 national consensus is about scrapping it. We have to understand the mood of the nation and come to terms with the reality.”

Early in 2019, Faesal announced his resignation from the IAS and became a vocal critic of the government. Jammu & Kashmir was stripped of its special status in August last year, and at the time, he tweeted: “Kashmir will need a long, sustained non-violent political mass movement for the restoration of political rights. Abolition of Art 370 has finished the mainstream. Constitutionalists are gone. So you can either be a stooge or a separatist now. No shades of grey.”

He has now deleted all his tweets. Asked to explain the stooge-and-separatist comment , he said: “I was talking about the political grey zone in which electoral politics operated. I said that once the grey zone is over now people will call you stooge or separatist. [And] I said I’m neither of the two.”

He added: “I’m a proud citizen of this country who wants to make a difference in the lives of people. I don’t recognise these labels at all.”

In a signed article for this paper in January last year, Faesal enunciated the reasons he quit the IAS. He said then that Kashmir was in a crisis and that as an insider, he had decided to ring the alarm bell.

After being in touch with top officials in the government, Faesal now says he accepts the new reality. “We are face to face with a new political reality in Kashmir. Since August 5, the facts on the ground have changed. I want to articulate my understanding of the situation without the need to be politically correct. Kashmir has suffered a lot in the past. I don’t want to bank on the old illusions, take Kashmiris down a garden path, and build my career on that. I’m quitting with all humility and telling people that I can’t promise something that I can’t deliver.”

He now seems hopeful that the legislative route will provide answers. “In a democracy, this consensus is dynamic and we should not lose hope. The same Parliament has provided answers in the past and I’m sure the same Parliament will provide answers in the future also,” he said.

Faesal’s resignation from the IAS is still pending and he may be reinstated, though the timeline for that is not clear. “The rules can be tweaked to accommodate him,” an official said.

Faesal is not averse to returning to the bureaucratic fold. “I am not averse to working with the government. Public administration is my domain of expertise. That’s where I belong,” he said.

Officials in Delhi and Srinagar who asked not to be named said he could be rejoining soon, and could also be reinstated in an advisory role. (HT)