Early Times Report
Jammu, Nov 12: Omar Abdullah on Tuesday appreciated and commended the role of Indian Army in protecting the country and safeguarding the people from external and internal threats as also rendering invaluable service during the calamities and other challenges.
Chairing the Civil-Military Liaison Conference at Nagrota in Jammu, the chief minister emphasised the need for further strengthening the Civil-Military liaison to address the issues concerning the two, speedily and amicably. This meeting was held after four years to sort out issues of army and the state government.
Omar Abdullah said that working closely with each other would mean addressing issues and forging way ahead despite differences in positions of the Army and Civil Administration on various issues. He added that working in tandem acts as a catalyst to find out workable solutions.
The meeting discussed various issues pertaining to human welfare, ex-gratia relief, de-mining of areas, construction of roads, land acquisition, infrastructure development and other subjects concerning grant of tax relief and enhancement of financial assistance to ex-servicemen who have participated in World War-II.
Omar Abdullah said that Civil-Military Liaison Conference is the right forum to work out measures and strategies to address all the issues between the civil and military administration. He gave nod to enhancing financial assistance from Rs 1,500 to Rs 3,000 per month in favour of participants and widows of those who had taken part in World War-II.
The chief minister gave directions for providing hassle-free and equal compensation by the Army to the affected civilian.
The chief minister also constituted a committee headed by the chief secretary to look into various land related cases. In case of Tosha Maidain firing range, it was decided that a committee under the chairmanship of the chief secretary will look into all the aspects of the matter and suggest various viable options.
The conference was attended by Deputy Chief Minister, Tara Chand, Chief Secretary, Mohammad Iqbal Khandey, Financial Commissioner Revenue, Dr. Arun Kumar, Director General of Police, J&K, Ashok Prasad, Principal Secretary Planning and Develoment, B.R. Sharma, Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister, B.B. Vyas, Principal Secretary Home, Suresh Kumar, Principal Secretary Power Development Department, Arun Kumar Mehta, Principal Secretary Tourism, Atal Dulloo, Chief Wild Life Warden, A.K. Singh, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Abhay Kumar, Divisional Commissioner, Jammu, Shantmanu, Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir, Shalendra Kumar, Commissioner Secretarys and Administrative Secretaries of different departments.
From the Army side the Conference was attended by GOC-in-C Northern Command, Lt. Gen. Sanjiv Chachra, Chief of Staff Northern Command, Lt. Gen. HJS Sachdev, GOC 16 Corps Lt. Gen D.S. Hooda, GOC 15 Corps Lt. Gurmeet Singh, GOC 14 Corps Lt. Gen. Rakesh Sharma, GOC 9 Corps Lt. Gen. Parveen Bakshi, Air Vice Marshal Anil Khosla and other Army Officers. |
