Pilgrims progress

All roads seem to be leading to Vaishno Devi this year,with the shrine attracting as many as 77 lakh pilgrims so far.

All roads seem to be leading to Vaishno Devi this year,with the shrine attracting as many as 77 lakh pilgrims so far. Far fewer visitors arrived last year in view of the agitation over transfer of land to the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board SASB. But this year saw a surge of yatris. Shrine board officials said that they expect that this month there will be a huge rush as this year winds to a close. Additional Chief Executive Officer,Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board,M K Bhandari said,About 30,000 pilgrims are expected during the last fortnight of this year.

Money for nothing

To put curbs on wasteful expenditure,the state government has not only banned new furniture purchases and restricted the use of residential and mobile telephones for bureaucrats,it has also said a strict no to official dinners and lunches except those hosted by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah or those that are approved by him. The bureaucrats phone allowance will be be strictly monitored in accordance with the ceilings which have been reduced by 10 per cent this month. It even ordered that the allotment of vehicles to officers from the state motor garages will be strictly monitored. In yet another blow to officials,the government has also decided to stop upgrading posts.

BJP loud on silent talks

The BJP has been scathing in its attack on the central governments silent talks with separatist leaders. The party has started launching programmes to oppose the move which it says is slowly sidelining nationalist forces. Having already launched a programme in Jammu,the BJP is now planning to organise a series of similar events in Doda,Kathua,Udhampur and Rajouri districts. Former Union defence minister and BJPs legislative party leader,Chaman Lal Gupta,said,Nobody knows what is going on in New Delhi regarding Kashmir and the Centre seems to have no concrete policy no concrete policy. Only the separatist camp has been taken into account.

A WRONG NOTE

It was supposed to be a fun-filled event,but Punjabi pop singer Jazzy Bs recent performance in Jammus Maulana Azad stadium ended on a bad note. As the show was drawing to a close,some youths grew out of hand and started throwing bottles at the performers,forcing the police to lathi-charge the audience. In the stampede that followed,over a dozen persons fell unconscious. The singer ended up finishing his show ahead of time,even as audience members complained that the show managers had done a shoddy job. People complained there were no security checks and that those with legitimate tickets couldnt find seats.