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| 5 years of Global tendering, Govt fails to award contract of Sapphire extraction | | Is BJP-PDP Govt serious in exploring Padder Sapphire Mines? | | Asif Iqbal Naik
Early Times Report
Jammu, Mar 5: The non serious approach of the successive governments in Jammu and Kashmir could be gauged from the fact that even after floating the global tenders for exploration of Sapphire mines situated in Suncham Padder in Kishtwar District, they failed to allot the tender among the five short listed bidders as a result of which the precious Sapphire mines of Padder are vulnerable to smugglers who openly robbed these mines with the help of some locals and even police for decades.
As per the details available with "Early Times" after assuming the charge of Ministry of Industries and Commerce Chander Prakash Ganga visited the Suncham Sapphire mines on 2-9-2015 along with the Managing Director Jammu and Kashmir Minerals Limited and MoS Sunil Sharma raising hopes among the locals, but even after two and half year since the concern minister visited the Suncham Sapphire mines, nothing was done so far by the PDP-BJP government .
Speaking to "Early Times" several local people slammed the government for its failure in finalizing the tenders of extraction of Sapphire from the Padder mines they reiterated that besides assuring jobs to local unemployed youths, the government must fulfill the long pending demand of people of Padder with regard to the establishment of Sapphire refinery plant at Gulabgard or Atholi.
Even former Minister of State for Industries and Commerce Sajjad Ahmed Kichloo on 1-1-2014 had said that the global tenders for extraction of Sapphire from famous Sapphire mines have already been floated adding that the extraction of the Sapphire from these mines will start shortly and since then nearly five years has passed and same is still a distant dream for the locals of Padder.
"The government must assure the reservation of 10% royalty for developmental activities out of the income generated from the extraction of Sapphire" said Shakir Siddiqui, President Public Awareness Front Kishtwar.
It is worthwhile to mention that the fraudster and fugitive Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi managed to rob the state of its precious Sapphire minerals worth billions of rupees through a well planned nexus of Sapphire Smugglers and police officials.
Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti being as the Home Minister is under tremendous pressure to order probe after the surfacing of Nirav Modi connection to smuggling of Padder Sapphire mines and reinvestigation into the cases related to Sapphire smuggling registered in various Police Stations of the state so that those police officers could be punished who successfully managed to allegedly replace the precious Sapphire stones with inferior quality of stones helping the looters.
The sources said that some officers even reportedly sold the recovered Sapphire pieces to Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi outlets at Udhampur or in Jaipur which needs to be looked into as well. |
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