Gives big relief to houseboat owners, Shikarawalas
STATE TIMES NEWS
SRINAGAR: The Administrative Council (AC), which met here under the chairmanship of Lieutenant Governor, Manoj Sinha, has approved the proposal of Home Department to create new posts under different categories for establishment of State Investigation Agency (SIA) in Jammu and Kashmir.
Rajeev Rai Bhatnagar, Advisor to the Lieutenant Governor, Dr. Arun Kumar Mehta, Chief Secretary, J&K and Nitishwar Kumar, Principal Secretary to the Lieutenant Governor attended the meeting.
In terms of territorial division of jurisdiction of the State Investigation Agency, there will be two divisions, one each for Jammu and Kashmir provinces. Each province will be headed by one SSP rank officer.
The Administrative Council approved the creation of 252 posts in different categories including Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG), Senior Superintendents of Police (SSP), Superintendents of Police (SP), Deputy Director of Prosecution (DDP), Chief Prosecution Officers (CPOs), Deputy Superintendents of Police (Dy.SP), Senior Prosecution Officers (Sr.PO), Inspectors, and Sub-Inspectors (SI) among others.
The State Investigation Agency (SIA) will be the Nodal Agency for coordinating with the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and other central agencies, with the mandate to take such measures as may be necessary for speedy and effective investigation and prosecution of terrorism-related cases.
The Administrative Council also gave a big relief to the houseboat owners and Shikarawalas of Jammu and Kashmir, and approved the proposal of Tourism Department to provide subsidized timber for repairs and maintenance of houseboats and taxi Shikaras.
The decision will provide timber for minor/periodical repairs and maintenance/upkeep of registered houseboats on 50 per cent concessional rate upto a maximum of 70 per cent requirement or 30 Cft, whichever is less, through the Forest Department. The timber will be provided to the beneficiaries once in six years.
Similarly, for reconstruction and major repairs of houseboats, the timber will be provided on one-time basis, on 50 per cent concessional rate upto a maximum of 70 per cent of the requirement or 80 CFT, whichever is less.
In case of registered taxi Shikaras, the timber will be provided for periodical repairs/ maintenance on 50 per cent concessional rates to a maximum of 70 per cent of requirement or 15 CFT, whichever is less, once in five years.
Under this initiative, the eligible houseboat owners and Shikarawalas will be identified by the Director Tourism, Kashmir, who will purchase the required quantity of timber to be further distributed; through e-auction from the J&K Forest Development Corporation Limited.
