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TUESDAY 13 May | 2014 | 13 Rajab, 1435 AH | PAGES 12 | VOL NO: 4 | ISSUE NO: 132 | RS: 2/- (AIR SURCHARGE FOR JAMMU /DELHI/LEH 50 Paisa)Pen For Justice Largely Circulated, No. 1 Bilingual Daily of J&Khttp://www.zabarwantimes.com

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Inside story

On Edit Page

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Awareness program over Drug addiction held in

SrinagarSrinagar, May 12 : In a bid to create awareness among the youths of the valley Mukhtar Memorial Society a Non-Governmental Organization initi-ated its Drug De Addiction Campaign for District Srinagar by organizing an awareness program at Govt. Boys Higher Secondary School Nigeen Haz-ratbal in collaboration with State Bank of India.According to the statement issued to KNS, he program was inaugurated by the Principal of the School. Few oth-

Faqeer Rahman Dar’s Urs to be held on May 18

PG 06 PG 11 PG 06

Man missing in Baramulla

Every year Mother’s Day is observed internationally on second Sunday of May to focus on the plight of moth-ers so that society as a whole is made sensitive enough to take care of this epicentre of love and affection. How-ever it is unfortunate that despite our yearly resolve to concentrate our at-tention towards the welfare of moth-ers, the women as a whole are suffer-ing severely in this man dominated society. They are discriminated in every field of life, their very existence is challenged, their life ended before

Give them space; they will excel

No rift with SidharthWins Madrid Masters women’s single title

Counting to be held at 4 centres under video surveillance

‘Broker arrested for defaming us’: Police

Bandipora, May 12, CNS: Locals from Kulosa Bandi-pora Monday alleged that police is demanding money in exchange of the release of the youth who are lan-guishing in police stations of Bandipora. “There are some ‘brokers’ working for police who are demand-ing money from us to get our son’s released from the lock-ups. Most of these ‘brokers’ are affiliated with a particular political par-ty,” they said. “My son is in police lock-up. A ‘broker’ who demand-ed Rs 30,000 from me to get my son released without any delay approached me. I am a poor fellow and could not afford such a hefty sum,” a resident of Bandi-pora told CNS adding that these broker are on prowl and are minting money from the helpless parents. Station House Officer Ban-dipora Mushtaq Ahmed

confirmed that some ‘bro-kers’ were using the name of police and were trying to mint money from the par-ents. “We have arrested a broker who used to demand money from the parents of the arrested youth. We ap-peal people not to believe in any such types of persons,” he told CNS and identified the ‘broker’ as Molvi Altaf Ahmed resident of Bagh Bandipora. He said Molvi Altaf used the name of police and tried to deceive many parents. “He is in our custody and the fact is that his nephew is also in police custody. Why didn’t people ask him that if he was so influen-tial then why he did not manage to get his nephew released,” Station House Officer said. Meanwhile, even after the release of some youth from police lockups, North Kashmir’s Bandipora town remained shut for the fourth consecutive day on Monday.

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Srinagar, May 12: One person is reported to be missing since yesterday morning, in Sheeri Baramulla. The missing person had left the home to offer morning prayers and since then has not been traced. Abdul Rashid Sheikh Resident of Bonpora Fatehgarh, Sheeri reported in Police station Sheeri, Baramulla that on 11 May 2014 his brother 38 years old Bashir Ahmad Sheikh son of Ahad Sheikh went to a nearby Masjid to offer

See Man On PG 11..

Srinagar, May 12: People’s Democratic Party senior leader Muzaffar Hussain BeighMonday said National Confer-ence resorted to violence in North and South Kashmir on the polling days and for this purpose some people who claim to be the part of the Hurriyat Conference supported and helped this party. “National Conference utilized all its resources to have an edge over PDP, but they miserably failed in their de-signs as people even those who do not favour our party voted for PDP,”

Beigh told CNS adding that those NC and Con-gress workers who vot-ed for PDP indicates the anti-incumbency factor and the extent of hatred people have developed against the ruling Nation-al Conference. Former Deputy Chief Minister said that Na-tional Conference was sure of Farooq Abdullah’s victory on Srinagar seat

and keeping this thing in mind this party did not enforce boycott in Sri-nagar, Budgam and Gan-derbal. He said that the consequence were totally different and the people rejected Dr Farooq Ab-dullha and voted for PDP by heart. Muzaffar Hussain Beigh told CNS that for North and South Kashmir

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Some people claiming to be part of Hurriyat helped NC in goading violence on polling days’

Srinagar, May 12: Kashmir Sozni Embroidery workers Monday alleged that District Industries Centre (DIC) Kashmir is regis-tering non-state subjects per-manently under Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises and is allowing them carry out their business activities in Valley. The workers told CNS that due to the rampant registration of non-state subjects by DIC has

put their business in risk which they are professing from de-cades. “How can DIC register these non-state subjects when they are not the citizens of Kashmir and are lacking even ration cards. On the one hand government is claiming of protecting the every provision of Article 370 while on the other,

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Non-State subjects permanently registered to carry

out business in Kashmir 230 bottles of Codeine Phosphate recovered

Srinagar, May 12 : Sho-pian Police on a tip off at Sofanaman crossing on Shopian Srinagar road established Naka, today. During the search the naka party intercepted seven motor cycle borne persons.According to a statement

issued to KNS, upon their search police recovered 230 bottles of codeine phosphate Rexcof and Amcodine from their possession. Six persons Jahangir Ahmad Mir, Showket Ahmad Najar, Reyaz Ahmad Reshi, Abid Hussain, Mohammad Iqbal Wagay and Ashiq Hussain Malik were ar-rested, however, See Shopian On PG 11..

Big drugs racket unearthed in Shopian

02 minor girls drowned in Kupwara

Srinagar, May 12: The state elec-toral office have almost com-pleted preparations including plans for training sessions for the May 16 Lok Sabha election counting which will be carried out at four counting stations in-cluding Kargil.According to IGP Kashmir A.G Mir, adequate security arrange-ments have been made for the four stations which include Baramulla, Anantnag, Srinagar and Kargil. “We have made ad-equate security arrangements to facilitate smooth counting in all these counting stations,” he told KNS. According to an officer in state electoral office a fair and an incident-free count-ing is the objective of Election Commission of India (ECI) and all the election officers have been directed to work towards it. “The counting in three Lok Sabah seats of Kashmir valley will be carried out in 39 halls

and each counting station will have video surveillance to watch over,” the officer in state electoral office informed.The security measures for counting halls and strong-rooms (which hold the Electron-ic Voting Machines), training sessions for Returning Officers, Assistant Returning Officer and District Electoral Officers for all the four stations have been planned as per the ECI guidelines. Election officers at the training session would be acquainted with the counting procedures, postal ballot count-ing and EVM operation, an offi-cial in state electoral office told KNS.The deputy commissioner Sri-nagar Farooq Ahmad Shah who is also the returning officer for Srinagar Lok Sabha constit-uency informed KNS that the counting of votes for central Kashmir parliamentary con-

stituency will take place at 8 AM in SKICC. “We have created 8 halls with 64 tables for 15 as-sembly segments of the constit-uency. We have divided count-ing for these 15 segments into two sessions. In first session of the counting we will count votes of 8 segments and in sec-ond session the counting will be for the other 7 segments,” he told KNS. Similarly, in South Kashmir the counting will be carried at Gov-ernment Degree College Boys Khanabal Anantnag at 8 AM. “We have created 16 halls for 16 assembly segments of the South Kashmir constituency,” Saugat Biswas, deputy commissioner and returning officer for Anant-nag Lok Sabha constituency told KNS. He said adequate ar-rangements have been made for the counting procedure. In Baramulla the

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Srinagar, May 12: Panchayat repre-sentatives Sunday stated that they will go for the mass resignation if they are perceived as an obstacle in the resolution of Kashmir issue.According to the KNS correspondent, the members of the Panchayat while holding the mainstream parties re-sponsible for the killing of Panches and Sarpanches in the recent past, accused that if guilty are not brought to book, they will go for resignation en-masse.“We want a thorough investigation into the matter and want guilty to be punished. We are protesting so that the persons involved in the killing of our colleagues are punished at the earliest,” said Khurshid Malik gen-eral secretary, Jammu and Kashmir Panchayat Association. “National Conference (NC) is saying that People’s Democratic Party (PDP) is behind the killings and PDP alleges that NC was doing it. We feel they all are killing us together,” said Khur-shid, adding that by the criminal si-lence of the mainstream parties, it is being felt that we are being used.The Panchayat members further stat-ed that Kashmir is a dispute and that they are the stakeholders like other

people of Kashmir. “We have been elected as the representatives for the social services and 85 percent of peo-ple participated in those elections.”They stated further that if the guilty are not punished and a thorough probe is not ordered, they will boy-cott the forth coming elections. “We will not vote in the elections nor will we allow anyone to go near to the polling booth.” They added that they in the near future will hold a detailed meet with Kashmir’s pro-freedom camp so that we could get some help from them for holding the killers of the Panches and Sarpanches ac-countable.Khurshid said Panchayat members were ready to resign en masse, but had decided to hold deliberations with separatist leaders to clear their stand. “We are ready to go for en masse resignation, but before that we are going to meet separatist leaders. We have formed a six-member com-mittee. We will go to them and clear our stand. We will tell them that we are not a hurdle to the Kashmir is-sue,” Malik said.Few days back, the All Jammu and Kashmir Panchayat Conference demanded

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Panchayat members to meet pro freedom camp

Term Kashmir a disputed area, threaten to resign enemas’

Srinagar, May 12: Calling people from all walks of life to contrib-ute towards building a progres-sive society by eradicating social evils, Hurriyat Conference (M) Chairman and Ameer Mutahida Majlis Ulema Mirwaiz Umar Fa-rooq Monday stated that immo-rality; corruption, extravagance, and futile rituals were currently plaguing the soci-ety. He stated that it was the duty of every conscious Kashmiri to play its role to bring social reforms and get rid of these so-cial evils, thereby help in building a sound society based on moral and Islamic values. According to a statement issued to KNS, tak-ing forward the social reforms campaign, Mirwaiz addressed a gathering of local imams and re-spected citizens of the locality at Mifta-hul-uloom, Marjan Pora Nawakadal, Mirwaiz stated that the young generation was the fu-ture of Kashmir, adding, it was the duty of the society in general and parents in particular to im-

part rich values and acquaint the youth with the issues facing the society. He said the time has come that youth should be shown the right path which would ultimate-ly lead to progress and prosperity of Kashmir. He said that people can’t remain mute spectators to social evils facing the society.Mirwaiz stated that social ills

like immorality, drug and Liquor addiction have sad-ly shown a rising trend. He said social evils in Kashmir can only be encountered by protecting our Islamic identity. He appealed conscious Kashmiris, Ulemas, and respectable, in-

tellectuals to preserve the Islamic values and inculcate those teach-ings among the people to preserve the true Islamic spirit. Hurriyat (M) Chairman stated that Kash-miris were engaged in freedom struggle, adding that we cannot turn a blind eye towards growing social and moral challenges fac-ing the society. He said a healthy society is guarantee

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Immorality, corruption, futile rituals plaguing

society: Mirwaiz

>>>>>>>>>>>’Brokers’ on prowl >>>>>>>>>>

Man dies in train accidentSrinagar, May 12 (KNS): An unidentified person came under a moving train last evening at Wangund, in the jurisdiction of Police station Dooru, Anantnag, resulting in his on spot death. According to a statement issued to KNS, the body is lying in Qazi-gund Hospital for identification. The deceased is about 40 years of age with beard and is

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Will start in 39 halls at 8 A.M Adequate security in place: IGP

Srinagar, May 12: Amid ‘chaos and con-fusion’ incumbent J&K Cricket Associ-ation (JKCA) President, Dr Farooq Ab-dullah was again elected the president of the JKCA during the working committee meeting on Monday in which elections for top posts were held on Monday. Farooq Abdullah had claimed that he is not going to contest election this time. Reports said that elec-tions of JKCA were held at Grand Lalit Hotel on Mon-day after three years. In-siders told CNS that there was chaos and confusion inside the election hall as some members protested that some office bearers and senior members of the Association have not been allowed to participate in the elections. Reports said that Vice chairman Jam-mu Shastri Cricket Club and another vice chairman from Sopore club were barred from taking part in the elections as their names appeared nowhere in the list that was pasted outside the election hall. “Why those members are not be-

ing allowed to participate in the elec-tion who at present are the part of the Association and participated in almost all the important meetings of the Asso-ciation,” some members from different Clubs during election process raised

the question amid noisy scenes. Reports said that Vice chairman Jammu Shastri Cricket Club, Shambu Nath Sharma and another vice chair-man from Sopore Javid Ahmed Kitab after not finding their names in the list of members left the venue in a dejected state. “To pave way for the entry of the fake mem-bers, the real members were barred from tak-ing part in the election process,” a member told

CNS on condition of anonymity. Reports said that the elections that were held for the first time after surfac-ing of the multi-crore cricket scam were marred by arguments

See Amid On PG 11..

JKCA elections

Amid ‘chaos and confusion’ Farooq Abdullah elected

President againSrinagar, May 12: The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president, Mehbooba Mufti has expressed deep sorrow over the huge loss of property in the tragic fire incident at Phutli-pora Chrarisharief in which six houses got damaged.According to a statement issued to KNS, while ex-pressing her deep sympa-thies with the effected families who lost their houses in the tragic fire accident, she said the prompt action from the authorities could have minimized the damage.Demanding proper and timely compensation, relief for the effected families, Mehbooba said the government should provide every possible support to the victims so that they could not face any problem in the prevailing climatic conditions.The party senior leader and former Finance Minister,

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PDP grieved over fire

incident at Chrarisharief

Bandipora shuts for the fourth consecutive day ‘No ploy of NC worked this time’: Muzaffar Hussain Beigh

Srinagar, May 12: Four persons were injured in two separate road accidents across the valley. According to a statement issued to KNS, an unknown Scorpio ve-hicle hit and injured a pedestrian near Petrol Pump, in the jurisdic-tion of police station Bijbehara, Anantnag. The injured has been shifted to hospital

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4 injured inroad mishaps

11 Srinagar, Tuesday 13 May 2014 Zabarwan Times

FROM THE FRONT PAGE

IGP Police

Days

Kashmir

Shopian

Man

Kupwara

Mishaps

Panchayat

Mirwaiz

Amid

PDP

Owner , Printer & Publisher: Suhail Malik Editor -in-Chief: Shahana Malik RNI NO. JKBII/2011/39764, Email: zabarwantimes@gmail.com Publised at Govt. Quarters , M-13 Magarmal Bagh Srinagar-190001 J&K, Printed at:- Sangarmal Offset Press Humhama Sheikhpora Tele/Fax: 2478370 Cell No. 09999964750, 9796 787844

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counting will be held at Government Boys Degree College at 8 AM. “We have created 15 counting halls for 15 assembly segments of the Baramulla Lok Sabha constituency and adequate arrangements have been made for the counting,” Farooq Ahmad Lone, deputy commissioner Baramulla who is also the returning officer for the North Kashmir parliamentary constitu-ency told KNS. (KNS)

the constitution of a judicial commission to probe the killings of Panchayat members in the state. In the latest case, a panchayat member was shot dead by militants in Kulgam district last Thursday. He said panchayat members were ready to resign en masse,but had decided to hold deliberations with sep-aratist leaders to clear their stand. “We are ready to go for en masse resignation, but before that we are going to meet separatist leaders. We have formed a six-member committee. We will go to them and clear our stand. We will tell them that we are not a hurdle to the Kashmir issue,” Malik said.Few days back, the All Jammu and Kashmir Pancha-yat Conference demanded the constitution of a judi-cial commission to probe the killings of Panchayat members in the state. In the latest case, a panchayat member was shot dead by militants in Kulgam dis-trict last Thursday. (KNS)

of bright future of Kashmiris.The speakers included Advocate Nazir Ahmad Ron-ga, Mufti Tanveer-ul-Islam, Mehrajudin Khan,MS Shamas, Mohammad Yaqob masoodi, Sofi Mushtaq and others spoke on the occasion, gave their valuable suggestions, and pledged their support for the social reform campaign started by Hurriyat Conference (M). At the conclusion of public gathering, a special team was constituted under the leadership of Mufti Tan-veer-ul-Islam who would lead the social reform cam-paign in the area. (KNS)

and protests. Dr Farooq Abdullah was once again elected the president of the highest sports body of the state while Arvind Singh Mikkhi was elected Chair-man. Some of the members who were chosen as the of-fice bearers included M.L.Nehru (General Secretary), Idrees Gundhroo (Joint Secretary), Ghulam Muham-mad Ronga (Vice Chairman) and Ghulam Muhammad Bhat was elected as Treasurer. Sources privy to the meeting told CNS that presi-dent JKCA, Dr Farooq Abdullah on this occasion said that the Association has received some bank cheques worth Rs 2 crore from one of the accused involved in Cricket scam Ehsan Mirza. “Mirza has informed the Association in case it is proved through investigation that he is involved in misappropriation of Cricket As-sociation funds, he would pay every penny,” Farooq Abdullah informed the JKCA members. Pertinently, Dr Farooq Abdullah had announced that he would not be contesting elections, this time round. “It is enough, I have stood for long now, will not stand for the post of the President again. I have always been elected for the post unopposed and have tried to serve the Association to the best of my capa-bilities,” Dr Farooq had said while talking to media a couple of days ago. The last elections of the cricket body were held in 2011 in which Dr Farooq Abdullah, who has been head-ing the body for close to three decades, was re-elected as President, unopposed. Ahsan Mirza was elected general Secretary while Aslam Goni was elected as Chairman. However after unearthing of the multi-crore scam, Mirza, Goni and administrative officer Saleem Khan had to resign from their respective posts. (CNS) Meanwhile, accusing Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association working committee of committing fraud and manipulation, the incumbent members of JKCA Mondaysaid that these elections were manipulated and were not fair. “During last elections in 2011, I was elected as the Vice Chairman and after three years when elections were due on Monday2014, I was not allowed to participate in it. I am telling you with au-thority that there were dozens of fake members pres-ent in the meeting who participated in the elections,” Shambu Nath Sharma who heads Shastri Cricket Club Jammu and was the vice chairman of the JKCA till Monday told CNS. He said that how come it is possible that you don’t allow a working committee member to participate in the JKCA elections. “I was shocked after not finding my name in the list of the members that were due to participate in the working committee meeting on Monday. You will not believe that as the Vice Chair-man of the JKCA, I participated in the Working Com-mittee meeting at Fortune Hotel Jammu on March 4 this year that was presided by Dr Farooq Abdullah. It shocked me that those persons were entrusted the job to frame the list of members who are corrupt and are looting the money of the Association,” Sharma al-leged. He said that the minutes for the Monday’s meet-ing and elections were prepared on March 4meeting at jammu and his name was enlisted there at the top. “On whose behest I along with another club member was barred from participating in the elections is an open fact. I must tell you that these elections were fishy and manipulated,” he said. Life time member of JKCA who represents Muslim Cricket Club Sopore Javid Ahmed Kitab despite being the present vice chairman of the Association was also not allowed to participate in the Working Committee meeting on Monday. “Farooq Abdullah barred those members to participate in the elections who frequent-ly raise the questions about the cricket scam. Farooq Abdullah did it all to hush up the scam and save the guilty,” Kitab told CNS adding that he never compro-mised with any one on the scam that marred Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association. (CNS)

Tariq Hameed Karra including Gh Nabi Lone Hanju-ra the party leader & Former Chairman Legislative Council also expressed their sadness over the loss of properties in the fire incident. They said the govern-ment should immediately provide free ration, tin sheets and blankets to the fire victims. The party’s district president, Budgam, Saifudin Bhat and party

leader Er. Nazir Yatoo also expressed their grief over the incident. (KNS)

The Traders Federation Bandipora spearheading the protests from last four days reiterated that the shutdown would continue till all the youth are not released. Reports said that all the shops and business estab-lishments in the town remained shut while transport was off the roads. Large contingent of police and Pa-ra-military troopers were deployed to quell protests. A police official told CNS that police on Sunday eve-ning released at least 7 youth from custody. Howev-er, locals alleged that police continue to raid during night hours to detain the youth, a claim refuted by po-lice. “We have not raided anybody’s house but simply called some youth to police stations for questioning,” a police official said. A member of Traders Federation Bandipora said that police should have no objection in releasing those youth through court orders against whom cases have been registered under various sections of law. Meanwhile, Bar Association Bandipora boycotted court proceedings on Monday against the detention of youth. Bandipora Bar Association president while supporting the shutdown call given by Traders Fed-eration have asked police to ensure unconditional release of the detained youth. The Bar has threatened to come on roads if police did not release the youth. (CNS)

seat, National Conference used its agents and those who claim to be the leaders of Hurriyat Confer-ence to goad violence. “National Conference spent heft amount to enforce boycott in North and South Kashmir. Boycott is another form of rigging and a tool on which National Conference has always relied upon,” he said adding that not a single ploy worked for National Conference this time and peo-ple rejected their candidates in all the three Con-stituencies of Kashmir Valley. (CNS)

the principles and provisions of the same article which gives Kashmir a special status are being vio-lated,” one of the Sozni workers Mukhtar Ahmed Mir said adding that the workers fail to understand why and how these non-state subjects get registration on urgent basis. When contacted, DIC General Manager Muneeb-ul-Hassan told CNS that they are not violating Article 370 at all. “It is a practice to register non-locals and allow them to carry out their business activities and same we did,” he said. (CNS)

Shamim Ahmad Mir managed to flee from the spot.In this connection a case FIR number 103/2014 under section 8/21 NDPS Act was registered in Police Sta-tion Shopian and investigation taken up. During in-vestigation it surfaced that Mohammad Iqbal Wagay son of Ghulam Qadir resident of Pinjoora, Shopian is the kingpin of the racket and is involved in number of other NDPS cases. These Codeine Phosphate bottles were meant for sale among the youth of the town. Po-lice has started a manhunt for the other members of the drug peddling racket. (KNS)

morning prayers but did not return back.According to a statement issued to KNS, Sheeri Police lodged a missing report and launched search to trace out the missing person. Anybody having any information regarding the whereabouts of the missing person may please contact Police station Sheeri 9596767711, 9622564440 or Police Control Room on Dial 100. (KNS)

wearing a black jacket and black and white sweater. Any body having any information about the de-ceased person may contact on 9419029604, 9906701042, 01942315230 or Police Control Room, Srinagar on Dial 100. (KNS)

for treatment. Bijbehara police has registered a case in this regard.Meanwhile, a Tata-407 vehicle bearing registration number JK01B/4677 and an Auto bearing regis-tration number JK01R/6053 collided near Radio Kashmir Crossing, in the jurisdiction of police station Kothibagh, Srinagar, resulting in injuries to 03 persons. All the injured were shifted to Hospital for treatment. Kothibagh police has registered a case in this regard. (KNS)

Awareness program over Drug addiction held in Srinagar

Srinagar, May 12 (KNS): In a bid to create awareness among the youths of the valley Mukhtar Memorial Society a Non-Governmental Organization initiated its Drug De Addiction Campaign for District Srinagar by organizing an awareness program at Govt. Boys Higher Secondary School Nigeen Hazratbal in collaboration with State Bank of India.According to the statement issued to KNS, he program was inaugurated by the Principal of the School. Few other Resource persons, Teachers and students also spoke on the occa-sion. Around 400 students, 30 staff members of the School and guests from State Bank of India participated in the event. The efforts of the or-ganizers were highly appreciated by the School Administration.Faizan Khan the General Manager of the NGO thanked Mr. D K Kaul AGM State Bank of India for sponsoring the event, the worthy Principal Madam for her kind support and the partici-pants for their patient listening. We have just started with the campaign and we intend to or-ganize more such programs to curb this social menace from mounting, the exclaimed. (KNS)

Srinagar, May 12, CNS: Urs Mubarak of renowned Sufi poet Faqeer, Rahman Dar will be cele-brated on May 18 this month at his Astaan-e-Aaliya at Charar Nambal Safakadal Srinagar. Faqeer Rahman Dar Memorial Committee told CNS that during the Urs Mubarak Mehfi-e-Sama

will be organized in which poetry of Rahman Dar will be recited. The Committee has asked people to participate in the Urs that would commence from 11 in the morning of May 18. Rahman Dar is best-known for his mystical poem, Sheshrang, the subject of many a critical debates

and widely considered to be one of the best mystical poems written in Kashmir. Rahman Dar belongs to a resurgence of Sufi poetry around the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century Kashmir which includes poets like Shams Faqir ,Neami Seab, Rahim Seab sopore. (CNS)

Faqeer Rahman Dar’s Urs to be held on May 18

A forensic psychiatrist testifying for the defense said at the Oscar Pistorius murder trial on Monday that the double-amputee track star suffered from an “anxiety disor-der” after growing up with a most-ly absent father and a mother so afraid of intruders that she slept with a firearm under her pillow.The testimony by the psychiatrist, Merryll Vorster, offered an uneasy echo of Mr. Pistorius’s own account of events in his bedroom early on Feb. 14, 2013, when he has admitted taking a handgun and firing four shots through a locked bathroom door, killing his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, a 29-year-old model and law graduate. Oscar Pistorius during the testi-mony of a defense witness at his murder trial on Tuesday in Pre-toria.Under cross-examination by the prosecutor Gerrie Nel, Ms. Vorster said Mr. Pistorius’s per-ceived disorder did not constitute a mental illness that would require the judge to order a psychiatric ex-amination. But, in an unexpected and contentious twist that could introduce new delays and impon-derables into the hearings, Mr. Nel said that the runner should be sent for psychological observation and evaluation to assess whether his mental state was a factor in the killing.As the trial began its eighth week of passionate outbursts and sporad-ic delays, Judge Thokozile Matilda Masipa adjourned the hearings un-til Tuesday and did not immediate-ly rule on the prosecutor’s request.The prosecution says Mr. Pistori-us, 27, murdered Ms. Steenkamp, but the runner says he shot her

by accident, believing that at least one intruder had entered his villa in a gated complex in Pretoria, the South African capital, where he is now on trial in a case that is being broadcast around the world. If he is convicted of premeditated murder, he will face a minimum 25-year jail term.The portrait Ms. Vorster offered of Mr. Pistorius’s troubled upbring-ing and deepening anxieties re-called some of his behavior during the trial since it opened in early March. On occasions he has wept, wailed, retched and sobbed when confronted with graphic evidence relating to Ms. Steenkamp’s death.Ms. Vorster said that she had in-terviewed the athlete and some of his family members and friends in early May 2014 to form her conclu-sions.Her testimony seemed intended on the part of the defense to bolster its argument that Mr. Pistorius felt vulnerable because of his dis-ability and had an unusually high level of anxiety about intruders. It also seemed intended to rebut ear-lier prosecution testimony that he was self-centered, trigger-happy, quick-tempered and jealous.Ms. Vorster also seemed to indicate that Mr. Pistorius’s anxiety might have conditioned his response to threats, predisposing him to “fight” rather than “flight,” possi-bly because his disability limited his ability to flee from perceived danger. The runner has said he was on his stumps, without pros-thetics, when he opened fire.Mr. Nel said that the psychiatrist’s testimony left him no other op-tion but to request an evaluation

of Mr. Pistorius’s mental health, a process that, in South Africa, can take 30 days in a state facility. But Barry Roux, Mr. Pistorius’s lead defense lawyer, said that nothing in Ms. Vorster’s report suggested that Mr. Pistorius “is incapable of appreciating wrongfulness.”The psychiatrist traced her anal-ysis of Mr. Pistorius’s personality to his birth without fibula bones in his lower legs. At the age of 11 months, both legs were amputated below the knee. The procedure con-stituted a “traumatic assault” that he would not have comprehended at the time, Ms. Vorster said.The runner grew up with a mother who was “very anxious,” abused alcohol intermittently and “slept with a firearm under the pil-low.” His father was “irrespon-sible and mostly absent.”Mr. Pistorius and his siblings were not “soothed” by their mother, the psychiatrist said, but were “raised to see their ex-ternal environment as threaten-ing.”Mr. Pistorius was never allowed to see himself as disabled and became increasingly sensitive about exposing his stumps, even to family members, Ms. Vorster said.Mr. Pistorius’s mother died when he was a teenager. At age 21, as he achieved sporting renown, he broke his ties with his father. Con-cerned about rising crime levels in South Africa, he bought a gun for his protection, Ms. Vorster said.As Ms. Vorster recounted details of his upbringing, Mr. Pistorius seemed to become emotional, cra-dling his head in his hands.

Psychiatrist Testifying for Defense Says Pistorius Has ‘Anxiety Disorder’

Following a controver-sial referendum on self-rule, Ukraine’s separat-ist region of Donetsk has appealed to Moscow on Monday to consider its absorption into the Rus-sian Federation to “re-store historic justice.”Pro-Russian separatists in Luhansk followed suit after declaring indepen-dence for their region in eastern Ukraine, the As-sociates Press reported.The call in Donetsk was made by Denis Pushilin, a leading member of the self-declared “Donetsk People's Republic,” at a news conference in Do-netsk."Based on the will of the people and on the resto-ration of a historic jus-tice, we ask the Russian Federation to consider the absorption of the Do-netsk People's Republic into the Russian Federa-tion,” he said.Pushilin said Ukraine, Belarus and Russia - states that formed the core of the now defunct Soviet Union - belonged in a restored historic unon. His call follows Sun-day’s Crimea-style ref-erendums in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk and Lu-hansk regions, in which separatists claimed over-whelming support for self-rule.Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimea region after a similar poll in March.The results of the Do-netsk and Luhansk votes should be implemented peacefully, Russia said earlier, without saying what further action it might take.Polls denouncedUkraine's acting presi-dent, Oleksandr Turchy-

nov, has slammed the rebel-held referendums as a "propaganda farce without any legal basis." However, he added that he wanted to "continue dialogue with those in the east of Ukraine who have no blood on their hands and who are ready to de-fend their goals in a legit-imate way."Secessionist referendum official Alexander Maly-hin holds a document as he speaks to journalists in the eastern Ukrainian city of Luhansk May 12, 2014.Secessionist referendum official Alexander Maly-hin holds a document as he speaks to journalists in the eastern Ukrainian city of Luhansk May 12, 2014.xSecessionist referendum official Alexander Maly-hin holds a document as he speaks to journalists in the eastern Ukrainian city of Luhansk May 12, 2014.Secessionist referendum official Alexander Maly-hin holds a document as he speaks to journalists in the eastern Ukrainian city of Luhansk May 12, 2014.The U.S. has denounced the polls as a "illegal un-der Ukrainian law" saying it will not recognize their results. A State Depart-ment statement said they "violate international law and the territorial integri-ty of Ukraine."The European Union has also condemned the votes as illegal. European Union foreign ministers added two Crimean companies and 13 people to the bloc's sanctions list, EU diplo-mats said. These are in ad-dition to 48 Russians and Ukrainians who have al-ready been targeted with EU asset freezes and visa bans.The EU ministers also hinted on Monday that

any disruption of elec-tions in Ukraine on May 25 could trigger new eco-nomic santions against Russia. But the EU remains far behind the United States in the severity of the sanc-tions it has imposed on Russia. Some European governments fear tough trade sanctions on Russia could undermine their own economies, just re-covering from the finan-cial crisis, and provoke Russian retaliation. Coup accusationsTurchynov also accused Russia of working to over-throw legitimate state authorities in Ukraine on Monday after pro-Rus-sian rebels declared a resounding victory in referendums in Ukraine’s Donetsk and Luhansk re-gions. Turchynov said the Kremlin was trying to disrupt a presidential election scheduled for May 25 which is tak-ing center stage in a confrontation pitting Moscow along with pro-Russia separatists in eastern Ukraine against the government in Kyiv and its Western backers.Ukraine's May 25 elec-

tion is intended to se-cure democratic con-tinuity and legitimacy after pro-Moscow presi-dent Viktor Yanukovych fled the country in Febru-ary, and Western govern-ments have threatened more sanctions in the vi-tal areas of energy, finan-cial services and engineer-ing if Moscow disrupts the vote.Following Sunday's refer-endums, separatist lead-ers in Donetsk say they will form their own army and expect all forces affili-ated with Kyiv to leave the region.A pro-Russian gunman stands guard outside an administrative building in the eastern Ukrainian city of Luhansk May 12, 2014.A pro-Russian gun-man stands guard out-side an administrative building in the eastern Ukrainian city of Luhansk May 12, 2014.xA pro-Russian gunman stands guard outside an administrative building in the eastern Ukrainian city of Luhansk May 12, 2014.A pro-Russian gun-man stands guard out-side an administrative building in the eastern Ukrainian city of Lu-hansk May 12, 2014.

East Ukraine Separatists Ask to

Join Russia

SRINAGAR |TUESDAY, MAY | 13 | 2014Daily ZABARWAN TIMES NEWS

Take a break from your routine, Libra. You might feel like you’re leading an army into battle as you strive for new adven-tures and conquer new realms. Make sure you take a bit of time out today to stop and let your troops rest. You deserve a little rest yourself. Use this moment of stillness to form your plan of attack so you’re sure about how to proceed.

The key for you is to minimize your daily drama as much as possible, Scorpio. You may not realize how much you cripple your-self by the way you exaggerate every aspect of your life. Try not to give so much of your attention to things that really don’t matter much. Petty jealousy and gossip about other people’s lives are es-pecially irrelevant in your world.

Be careful of advertising yourself as someone who is so strong and mentally competent that you’re capable of handling every-thing, Sagittarius. Take note that the strongest mule on the trail usually ends up carrying the most weight. Your emotions are more sensitive than you may think, and certainly more than you demonstrate to others. Be honest about the way you feel and not just the way you think.

Things should flow well for you today with very little ef-fort on your part, Capricorn. Take note that if any quarrel arises, it’s an indication that the person you’re arguing with isn’t nec-essarily the right person to deal with or confide in. Emotional issues are likely to be the hardest ones to overcome, but this shouldn’t be a problem for you. You have the ability to work through these like a pro.

This is meant to be a nice, relaxing day, so treat it as such, Aquarius. There’s no need for you to plan any great strategy at this time. Try to take it easy and not indulge in any unnecessary stress. This is your time to enjoy the moment. Don’t tax your mind by overanalyzing everything that comes your way. Go with the flow and have a great time regardless of what you end up doing.

Your sensual nature is heightened, Pisces, and you’ll find yourself engaged in tender moments and languid peacefulness in the company of others. Soothe your soul by letting yourself slip into situations that give you the emotional freedom to do or say whatever comes to mind. Life should be like a love poem written by a great master. Accept the good energy that comes your way.

Your sixth sense is right on target, Virgo, so trust your instincts today. You’re likely to connect with someone in a wonderful partnership that will help you foster the very plan you want to develop now. Stay close to those things that resonate strongly with your morals. The answer is in front of you; you don’t have to search too far afield in order to find it.

Allow your eager and restless nature to express itself in ways other than through the spoken word, Aries. Show someone that you care through your gentle touch or a big bear hug. Hold on a little bit more tightly than you might normally. There’s an unspo-ken understanding that comes when you communicate through nothing but pure silence. Work on developing this kind of connec-tion with those closest to you.

This is a terrific day for you, Taurus. You should find that your relationships, especially with men, go exceptionally well. Your tender and extremely sensitive nature is finally being recognized as the treasure chest it is. There are many times in which this type of personality is seen as weak, yet today is one of those times in which you’re given the full credit you deserve.

A selfish attitude on your part won’t be tolerated today, re-gardless of the circumstances, Gemini. Don’t make it worse for yourself by pretending that you don’t notice others’ hurt feelings. People are likely to be extra sensitive today, so be careful about trying to impose your will on someone who really wants nothing more than an ear to talk to and a shoulder to cry on.

You could find the hardest person to face is you, Cancer. You tend toward introspection, and you may find yourself shrinking into self-recrimination. You could analyze the important people in your life and yet fail to address the one you really need to look at – you. As you continually strive for perfection, give yourself proper credit. Do something nice for yourself today.

Take advantage of the creative energy in the air today, Leo. Keep your hands moving and your imagination flowing toward something fun and artistic. If you begin to doubt your work, you may fall down a spiral of creative blockage. Don’t get into the habit of constantly judging the quality or outcome of your work. Give yourself free rein to open up and explore whatever comes to mind.

DODA, MAY 12-To review the con-struction and restoration work on vari-ous water supply schemes in Doda Dis-trict, Commissioner Secretary PHE, Dr. Pawan Kotwal today convened a meet-ing of officers and officials of Public Health Engineering (PHE) Department in Doda.

District Development Commis-sioner Doda, Mr. Mubarak Singh, Su-perintendent Engineer Hydraulic Circle Doda, Executive Engineer Irrigation, be-sides various officials of Public Health Engineering and Irrigation Department were present in the meeting.

Laying stress on the sustainable de-velopment of water sources, Dr.

Pawan Kotwal instructed the func-tionaries of PHE Department to tap the outflow of any water sources and con-serve the traditional water resources without destroying the original outlet.

He also emphasized on the need of in-ter-departmental co-ordination for the better and safe supply of drinking water to the people of the District.

Regarding water quality, it was in-formed in the meeting that two water testing laboratories have been estab-lished in the District. He directed the of-ficials of PHE Department to judiciously use the field testing kits.

He informed that Chemical Tests are conducted for ground water and Bacte-riological Tests are meant for contami-nated surface water. He also laid stress on the community involvement in identification of water supply sources. He also said that Anganwadi workers should be encouraged for helping the people in getting new water connec-tions.He informed that Chemical Tests are conducted for ground water and Bacteriological Tests are meant for con-

taminated surface water. He also laid stress on the community involvement in identification of water supply sourc-es. He also said that Anganwadi work-ers should be encouraged for helping the people in getting new water con-nections.

He impressed upon the officers/ of-ficials of the PHE Department to con-duct committee meetings by involving Panchayati Raj Institutions for creating mass awareness and further stating that Hand washing in schools, villages, Anganwadi centres etc. should be en-couraged.

Later on commissioner secretary in-spected the construction works

on the already sanctioned water supply schemes and restoration work on various water supply schemes which were damaged due to recent in-cessant rainfall in the district.

Four days district level workshop in

DIET Doda concludesDODA, MAY 12-District Institute of Education and Training Doda orga-

nized four days District Level Workshop on “Quick Response and Emergency Handing of Disaster Management for School Safety” for teachers of District Doda in collaboration with State Disaster Response Force (SDRF)/Civil Defense w.e.f 06-05-2014 to 09-05-2014 at DIET Complex Doda, Bhaderwah and Gandoh.

In the workshop experts from SDRF/Civil Society members and DIET faculty members acted as Resource per-sons. Teachers drawn from all educational zones of District were sensitized and trained in quick response and emergency handling of Disaster management for school safety. Special stress was given on standard operating procedures in the school particularly disasters arising out of fire, cloud burst, floods, earthquakes, snake bites, food poisoning etc. A total of 595 teachers from all Educational zones of the District actively participated in the workshop.

The programme was carried under the guidance of Joint Director Training/Principal S.I.E Jammu Mr. H.R. Pakhroo and under the supervision of Mr. K.L. Parihar Principal DIET Doda.

Water Sources to be developed sustainably:

Commissioner Secretary PHE

HYDERABAD: In what is seen as a precursor to results of the as-sembly and Lok Sabha elections in Andhra Pradesh, the Congress party was virtually wiped out in the municipal polls in Seemandhra but won a majority of the seats in Telangana.

The bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh appeared to have proved costly for the Congress as it could not win a single municipal corpo-ration or municipality in elections in the 13 districts of Seemandhra.

However, separate statehood to Telangana seems to have benefited the party as it bagged 16 munici-palities and is ahead of others in one corporation in the polls whose results were declared.

The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) swept the urban body polls in See-mandhra, winning power in five corporations and 58 municipali-ties. The YSR Congress Party (YS-RCP) bagged two corporations and 16 municipalities. It will be hung civic bodies in 18 towns.

Overall, the TDP has bagged 1,446 seats (divisions or wards) and the YSR Congress 852 in See-mandhra. Others, majority of them independents, have won 120 seats. The Congress finished a poor third with 55 seats.

Barring Kadapa and Kurnool, it was the TDP which dominated Seemandhra.

In Telangana, the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) bagged one

corporation and nine municipali-ties. The TDP-BJP combine won seven municipalities, and the Ma-jlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP)

bagged one each. It was a hung house in 19 towns.

Overall in Telangana, the Congress won 525 seats and the TRS 313. Others, includ-ing independents, bagged 355 seats while the TDP-BJP alli-ance bagged only 162 seats.

The results of most of the 10 municipal corporations and 146 municipalities, which went to polls March 30, were an-nounced till 3pm.

In Telangana, elections were held for 56 municipalities and three corporations and in See-mandhra for 90 municipalities and seven corporations.

Seemandhra municipal poll results people’s victory: Chan-drababu Naidu

TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu hailed his party’s win in the municipal elections in See-mandhra, terming it as people’s victory.

The former Andhra Pradesh chief minister said it was a his-toric win by the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and thanked urban

voters for reposing faith in the party.

Naidu said the Telugu people rejected the corrupt and voted for the TDP to ensure development of

Andhra Pradesh.Naidu alleged that people had

to face many hardships due to the 10 years of misrule and corruption of the Congress. He said prices of essential commodities increased manifold, burdening the common man.

He said the TDP could not get desired results in Telangana as people believed that Congress carved out the separate state. He, however, said the TDP would con-tinue to work for rebuilding Telan-gana state.

The TDP could win only six out of 53 municipalities that went to polls in Telangana.

The TDP chief hoped that the party will emerge victorious in the rural local body elections and in assembly and Lok Sabha polls.

The counting of votes polled in last month’s elections to zilla pari-shads and mandal parishads will be taken up Tuesday.

Voted polled in 175 assembly and 25 Lok Sabha constituencies in Seemandhra will be counted on Friday.

Seemandhra, comprising Ray-alaseema and coastal Andhra regions, will come into being as separate state of Andhra Pradesh on June 2.

Municipal polls: Congress wiped out in Seemandhra, but makes big gains in Telangana

RO Anantnag holds meeting with political parties Implementation of RBSK reviewed in Pulwama ANANTNAG, MAY 12: Returning Officer, for 03-Anantnag Parliamentary Constitu-

ency today convened a meeting with the contesting candidates of the Constituency and

their polling agents to ensure follow up of ECI norms and guidelines on the counting day which is scheduled to be held on May 16, 2014 from 8 a.m. at Govt. Degree College Khanabal were EVMs of all 16 segments of the Constituency comprises of Anantnag, Pulwama, Shopian, and Kulgam districts have been dumped.

The Returning Officer informed the Contesting candidates that necessary identity cards will be provided to the counting agents by the ARO after submitting form 18 in duplicate with two passport size photographs. The political parties and the contesting candidates were directed to submit the names of the counting agents till May 13, 2014.

PULWAMA, MAY 12: As many as 228024 Children of district Pulwama are being covered under Rashtriya Bal Sw-asthya Karyakram (RBSK) Programme.

An orientation / workshop of RBSK for its implementation & monitoring was held at DC office, Pulwama. The District Development Commissioner, Pulwama, Mr. Manzoor Ahmad Lone along with Mission Director NRHM Dr. Yashpal Sharma convened a meeting of Health, Social Welfare & Education De-partments to review the implementa-tion & monitoring of RBSK in the district.

The Chief Medical Officer Pulwama Dr. Prehlad Singh briefed the meeting about the implementation of RBSK in the district & said that 12101 Children from Schools & Anganwadi Centers were screened under this programme. As many as Six Mobile Health Teams along with six vehicles with all logical support have been deployed for providing nec-essary services under this scheme.

PowerPoint presentations were pre-

sented by District Programme Manager NRHM, Miss Uzma Shah on implemen-tation of RBSK, State Trainer RBSK, Dr. Akhtar Naikoo for screening of 30 ail-ments under RBSK, Dr. Shahbaz (Epide-miologist) on deficiencies in children, District Nodal Officer RBSK, Dr. Majid Ahad on monitoring evaluation & re-porting & Block Medical Officer, Dr. Ra-mesh Kumar Malla spoke on achieve-ments under RBSK in the district.

It was given out that 221 Schools & AWW centres have been visited by the mobile health team’s 560 children up to 18 years of age were given treatment at PHC s & CHC level 22 children were re-ferred to tertiary care hospitals 13 cases have been sent for cost estimation & the amount for their treatment will be released by NRHM soon.It was decided in the orientation meet by District De-velopment Commissioner Pulwama that immediate orientation/workshop of RBSK should be taken up with Angan-wadi Workers of the district.

A lecture on insurance frauds and its investigationJAMMU, MAY 12- Crime

Branch, Jammu organized a lecture on the topic Insurance frauds and its investigation at Conference Hall Crime Branch, Jammu. The main aim of the lecture was to update the Crime Branch Officer and staff members regarding unseen frauds committed in connivance with Insurance Companies/Surveyor, Broker agents by manipulating false claims. Dr. Daleep Pandita Sr. Di-visional Manager New India Insurance Company was the guest speaker who elaborated in detail how to conduct an effec-tive investigation to solve the frauds. He also dwelt in length on issues per-taining to difference be-tween Insurance cover/Insurance Policy, who can go for insurance, how in-surance cover can be done in health sector, Motor Vehicle Loss, role of IRDA, direct and in-

direct financial loss, manipulat-ing in claim documents, claim amount, State and Central laws

dealing with the frauds, hit and run case insurance were also highlighted by the guest speak-

er in his lecture. The officers namely Sh.

Kulbushan Sharma, Chieff Pros-

ecuting Officer CBJ, Sh. Rajinder Singh Katoch Additional SP CBJ, Jagbir Singh Sumbria Dy. SP CBJ,

Inspr. Zahid Saif Wani I/C Police Station Crime, Inspr. Manjeet Singh I/C Cyber Cell CBJ and all

the I/O/NGOs of Crime Branch, Jammu attended the lecture and had interactive session with the

guest speaker. The participating officers/officials cleared their legal doubts which they usually

face while conducting in-vestigation in the insurance frauds.

The session was pre-sided over by Shakti Pathak SSP Crime Branch, Jammu who emphasized the need of holding such interac-tions on regular intervals to update the Investigating Officer for effective investi-gation of insurance frauds by Crime Department so that the general public does not suffer at the hands of notorious agents, sur-veyors, brokers etc. Later on, he honoured the guest speaker by presenting him a memento as a token of respect and appreciation on behalf of all ranks Crime Branch, Jammu.

Rajesh Bakshi Chief Prosecuting Officer Crime Branch, Jammu conducted the proceedings.

Daily Zabarwan TimesEDITORIAL/ OPINIONEDITORIAL/ OPINIONDaily Zabarwan TimesSrinagar, Tuesday 13 May 2014

Disclaimer : The contents and comments appearing in any article published in this paper are purely the personal opinion of the writer

Give them space; they will excel

Every year Mother’s Day is observed in-ternationally on second Sunday of May to focus on the

plight of mothers so that so-ciety as a whole is made sen-sitive enough to take care of this epicentre of love and af-fection. However it is unfor-tunate that despite our year-ly resolve to concentrate our attention towards the welfare of mothers, the women as a whole are suffering severely in this man dominated soci-ety. They are discriminated in every field of life, their very existence is challenged, their life ended before birth, they are discriminated in ed-ucation and in job, they are ill-treated by their parents, their in-laws, society and still it is considered a shame to give birth to a girl child. The feudal system hampers their every step towards develop-ment. They suffer on account of dowry and are subjected to honour killings in this most advanced world. Thousands of mothers are thrown out of their home and made to starve by their own children. In conflict zones, they are the worst suffers and are sub-jected to physical and mental torture. They loose their hus-bands, loose their sons, and brothers, loose their parents and above all loose their dig-nity, honour and chastity. It is they who become half wid-ows, it is they who suffers the pain and agony inflicted on them by the society they live in. How can we claim to be ci-vilised when we are still feu-dal in our thinking. Whether it is East or West, the condi-tion of women is same. If they suffer physically in East, in West also they are discrimi-nated at their work places by giving them less salary than their male colleagues. Wom-en have proved their mettle in every field of life. They are at par excellence with men in politics, administration, science, technology, educa-tion, in all services of armed forces, and also in difficult arenas like space technolo-gy. The only way to respect them is to provide them op-portunities to go ahead and to dispense with the feudal mentality which gives man a dominating position.

Daily Zabarwan TimesEDITORIAL/ OPINIONEDITORIAL/ OPINIONDaily Zabarwan TimesSrinagar, Sunday 09 March 2014

Disclaimer : The contents and comments appearing in any article published in this paper are purely the personal opinion of the writer

Election preparedness at

full swing

As the elections to the Lok Sabha have been announced, the Return-

ing Officers in different parts of the country have gone all out for the election preparedness so that free and fair elections are made possible, the code of conduct is implemented in real perspective and more and more voters are enrolled in the voter lists. The training programmes for Booth Level Officers have already started so have started the meetings of the concerned officers with the political parties to create awareness about the whole electoral process. Today special camps are being held all over the country so that young voters are given a final chance to enroll themselves and caste their valuable vote for elect-ing their representatives. This election is called the mother of all elections because the elec-tion situation is totally different from the previous elections. As there is no political group or alliance which seems to be in total command throughout the country, hence the Election Commission has more respon-sibilities to hold free and fair elections as India has the rep-utation of being not only the largest democracy of the world but also because of the institu-tion of Election Commission which has always stood the test of the time and remained un-biased in whatever the condi-tions. The elections to the Lok Sabha will be held in 9 phases and elaborate security arrange-ments are being made to make the situation conducive for the voters who are expected to cast their vote without any coercion or threat perception. There are some areas which are over sen-sitive like North East and Jam-mu & Kashmir and as usual the Election Commission is mak-ing proper security arrange-ments in these areas. If we take example of Panchayat elections in J&K, the large scale partici-pation may be surely an indica-tor that this time also the voters will turn in bulk to cast their vote. It is imperative that the people particularly the young generation votes so that only those representatives are elect-ed who have good image and spotless carrier and will serve the people in a better way and mitigate their problems.

Building not just Roads but Nation

Transport system is consid-ered as the life line of any nation. Road Infrastruc-ture, because of its easy accessibility, flexibility in

operation, door to door service and re-liability occupies a dominant position in the transportation system. It is vital for unleashing economic growth and is a critical component of all inclusive growth. In the last few decades, Road transport in India has registered tre-mendous growth and has become the most preferred mode of transport. The share of road transport in carrying the passengers and goods is more than 80% and 60% of the total passenger and freight movement respectively.

Road Network India has huge network of roads to-talling about 46.90 lakh km. The road density in India at present is nearly 1.43 km per sq. km of area which com-pares favourably with many coun-tries. Responsibility of development of this network rests with the Central Government, State Governments and local Government. National High-ways (NH), having total length of 82,803 km, constitutes less than 2% of the total road network. However, these are the main arteries carrying more than 40% of the total road traf-fic. Development of NHs is the respon-sibility of the Central Government.Good and efficient transport infra-structure is an essential pre-requisite for the economic growth of a nation. It has been the endeavor of the Gov-ernment to provide speedy, safe and efficient road transport network. It is recognized that modernisation of infrastructure is the key to attain higher GDP. India’s Transport sec-tor as a whole contributes about 5.5% to the GDP, with road transport con-tributing the lion’s share. India has emerged as one of the fastest growing economy in the world. According to experts, India could unleash its full potential, provided, it improves the infrastructure facilities, which are at present not sufficient to meet the growing demand of the economy. To address emerging demand by catch-ing up with the economic and social growth of the country, a massive Road development programme has been

taken up in the country.

NHDP The National Highways Develop-ment Project (NHDP) is the flagship programme, for development of less developed areas, dedicated regional programmes like the Special Acceler-ated Road Development Programme for the North-East (SARDP-NE) and the Special Programme for the Left Wing Extremism affected areas have also been taken up. Now, there are plans for building up Expressways in the Country. Three projects i.e. East-ern Peripheral Expressway in National Capital Region, Delhi - Meerut Express-way and Mumbai – Vadodra Express-way covering about 650 km are target-ed during the current financial year. Planning for Bengaluru – Chennai and Delhi – Jaipur Expressways are also in advance stages. All these Expressways will be fully access controlled roads on green field alignment. To meet with the massive require-ment of funds, innovative means of fi-nancing and financing strategies which inter alia include cess on fuel, private sector participation including foreign investment, borrowing from the mar-ket as well as budgetary support have been adopted. A major step was to at-tract foreign as well as domestic invest-ments through Public Private Partner-ship (PPP). Involving the private sector would lead to increasing efficiency with the help of using modern technol-ogy. The private sector has more flex-ible procurement and decision-making procedures and therefore, it can speed up implementation efforts. Allowing private sector to raise capital/funds has paved the way for the Government to use its scarce resources efficiently and effectively. Several new materials of road construction are also emerging that would need to be encouraged de-pending upon their cost effectiveness. For development of National High-ways in the Country in the 12 five year plan targets to invest Rs 1,44,769 crores from budgetary support, Rs 64,834 crores from IEBR and Rs 1,87,995 crores from private sector participation.Launched in 1998, the NHDP program represents the largest road construc-tion project ever undertaken to boost

the development of the National High-ways in the country. The program is aimed at the development of about 50,000 km of National Highways. Golden Quadrilateral which provides four-lane connectivity between four metros, is complete, while the North-South-East-West (NSEW) corridor is about to be completed. Four laning and six laning is underway at many places and progressing at brisk pace, despite the hurdles in land acquisi-tion, obtaining environment and for-est clearances, high cost debt etc,. So far work on more than 21,000 km have been completed and in about 12,350 km works are in progress. Other flag-ship regional programmes which in-cludes SARDP-NE and roads in LWE affected areas covers development of about 12,000 km of roads out of which work has already been completed in about 3800 kms.

Mode of Projects The emphasis has been to take up progressively more and more in-frastructure projects through private sector participation on BOT (Toll) basis so that more public funds are available for social sectors such as Health, Education, etc. However, it would not be practically possible to take up development of the majority of the highway stretches on BOT (Toll) mode. This has reflected in the recent trends of bidding when in majority of roads projects we could not get the favourable response. Accordingly, re-cently, Ministry has decided to take up road projects as turnkey Engineer-ing Procurement Construction (EPC) contracts basis which would help to reduce construction time and is ex-pected to improve quality of work as well. Also, in this system the objec-tive to garner private sector efficiency is retained and the private entrepre-neurs are free to use new technology to speed up their works

New InitiativesE-Tolling The experience on present tolling system is associated with con-gestion and delays at toll plazas. To overcome this, Government has de-cided adoption of Electronic Toll Col-lection (ETC) system across National

Highways in India, which would en-able toll to be collected electronically from vehicles at toll plazas while the vehicle is in motion. Pilot projects have already been taken up in this re-gard which will pave way for nation-wide interoperable ETC at all the toll plazas on National Highways by 2014.New Materials Besides financing, such a mammoth development pro-gramme requires huge amount of natural resources. As such conserva-tion of the material is area of concern for all. There is a need to save scarce physical resource like aggregates, sand, earth, cement, bitumen, etc. looking to huge programme of con-struction of highways in the country. On the other hand, the Nation is facing problem of the disposal & storage of in-dustrial waste like fly-ash, copper slag, marble slurry, etc. Efforts are on in utilizing these waste materials in con-struction of roads through complete/partial replacement of conventional materials. Cashless Treatment of accident Victims (A Road Safety initiative) India has the dubious distinction of having maxi-mum number of fatalities on roads. During the year 2011, there were around 5 lakh road accidents result-ing in the deaths of over 1.42 lakh people. Each day, nearly 390 people die on our roads. In India more than half of road accident victims are in the age group 20-65 years. The loss of the main bread earner and head of household due to death or dis-ability can be catastrophic, leading to lower living standards and poverty, in addition to the human cost of bereave-ment. This is an unacceptable price to pay for mobility. The Ministry has already taken up multi-pronged strategy in his regard. The latest mile-stone in this area is a Pilot Project for “implementation of cashless medical treatment to the accident victims” for the first 48 hours. Under this scheme accident victims will be provided free treatment during this period as a result immediate relief can be pro-vided to the accident victim, which will go a long way in reducing fatali-ties on our road.Completion of programmes already taken up is expected to go a long way in contributing towards building the Nation.

Empowering Mentally Ill to Live with Dignity

Mental health represents a critical indicator of hu-man development, serves as a key determinant of well-being, quality of life

and is the basis for social stability. So-cial and economic impact of poor men-tal health is pervasive and far reaching, leading to poverty, high unemployment rates, poor educational and health out-comes, among others. There is a need for a wider recognition of mental and emotional well-being as a core indicator of human development, and it is neces-sary to integrate a mental health and psychosocial perspective into all devel-opment and humanitarian policies, pro-grammes.Persons with mental and psychosocial disabilities represent a significant pro-portion of the world’s population. One in four people globally experience a mental health condition in their lifetime. Al-most one million people die due to sui-cide every year and depression is ranked third in the global burden of disease, and is projected to rank first in 2030. In India prevalence of mental disorders is 6-7% for common mental disorders and 1-2% for severe mental disorders. Treatment gap for severe mental disorders is ap-proximately 50% and in case of Common mental Disorders it is over 90%.With such a magnitude of mental disorders it becomes necessary to promote mental health services for the well being of gen-eral population, in addition to provide treatment for mental illnesses.Persons with mental and psychosocial disabilities often face stigma and dis-crimination due to widely held miscon-ceptions about the causes and nature of mental health conditions. Persons with mental and psychosocial disabilities also experience high levels of physical abuse. They encounter restrictions in their ex-ercise of socio-politico-economic rights

in the majority of countries, largely due to the false assumption that they are not able to carry out their responsibilities, manage their own affairs and make deci-sions about their lives.Though mental health conditions are one of the leading causes of disability, persons with mental and psychosocial disabilities often lack resources to main-tain basic living standards. Further-more, they are one of the most neglected and discriminated groups in develop-ment policies and programmes. Integra-tion of mental health into development efforts is a cost effective pro-poor strat-egy. There are cost effective treatments available for most mental illnesses, and effective treatment is associated with reductions in overall health-care costs. Child development, education, health, social welfare policies and pro-grammes must integrate mental and psychosocial aspects.In India, National Mental Health Pro-gramme (NMHP) was started in 1982 with the objectives to ensure avail-ability and accessibility of minimum mental health care for all, to encourage mental health knowledge and skills and to promote community participation in mental health service development and to stimulate self-help in the communi-ty. Gradually, the approach of mental health care services has shifted from hospital based care (institutional) to community based mental health care, as majority of mental disorders do not require hospitalization and can be managed at community level. During IX five year plan, Dis-trict Mental Health Programme was initiated (1996) and at present DMHP is covering 123 districts in 30 States and UTs. In addition to early identifi-cation and treatment of mentally ill, District Mental Health Programme has now incorporated promotive and pre-

ventive activities for positive mental health which includes; School Mental Health services; College Counselling services; work place stress manage-ment and suicide prevention services. Efforts are being made to improve hu-man resource availability in mental health sector so that mentally ill gets required attention and persons hav-ing a predilection for mentally illness can get good advice, counselling at the initial stages itself. Components of NHMP are being brought under the overall umbrella of National Rural Health Mission so that the States are able to plan requirements concern-ing Mental Health services as part of the respective project plans. Rs.623.45 crore has been approved as XI plan out-lay (upto 2012) for the National Mental Health Programme.However, recognizing the difficulties/stigma faced by mentally ill persons the Government is in the process of providing a humane, patient centric le-gal framework for mentally ill patients. The proposed Mental Health Care bill can be a ‘Game changer’ in the life of millions of mentally ill persons who were often victims of inhuman and degrading treatment, abuse and ridi-cule, both at the community level and at health care delivery establishments.The proposed Mental Health Care bill is significant in terms of Rights’ Approach that is being adopted to give pre-emi-nence to the preferences and opinion of the mentally ill person to a major extent. Provisions like ‘Advance Directive’ em-powers every person to make directive on how he wishes to be cared and treated for mental illness or not. Other salient provisions are;· A mentally ill person admitted to a mental health establish-ment shall have a right to receive or re-fuse visitors, phone calls, mail,etc· A mentally ill person has a right

to have treatment in his locality / resi-dence and can prefer only minimum treatment/care at mental health estab-lishments. This is to ensure that the pa-tient is allowed to live in, be part of and not be segregated from society to the ex-tent possible· Every patient has a right to protec-tion from cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment and the mental health estab-lishment shall be safe, clean with facili-ties for education, recreation, religious practices.· No patient shall be forced to un-dertake work and subject to compulsory shaving of head and wearing of uni-forms.· Mental illness may be made eligible for medical insurance coverage.· Government is duty-bound to plan, implement mental health programmes and create awareness about mental health and illness to reduce the associ-ated with mental illness· Every person will have access to mental health care and treatment at af-fordable cost, of good quality and of req-uisite quantity, accusable to the report, their families and care givers· Government should interpret men-tal health services into general health care services at all levels in all health programmes.· Government shall arrange good quality care and treatment in hospitals funded by government and in case of non availability in nearby place; refund the costs of treatment to the patient.To conclude, a mentally well person means a healthy society and developed nation. It is not enough if we have best health care services, protective legisla-tion unless the stigma, discrimination and widely held misconceptions at-tached to mental illness are weeded out and community becomes more empa-thetic towards such persons.

Daily Zabarwan TimesEDITORIAL/ OPINIONEDITORIAL/ OPINIONDaily Zabarwan TimesSrinagar, Sunday 09 March 2014

Disclaimer : The contents and comments appearing in any article published in this paper are purely the personal opinion of the writer

Election preparedness at

full swing

As the elections to the Lok Sabha have been announced, the Return-

ing Officers in different parts of the country have gone all out for the election preparedness so that free and fair elections are made possible, the code of conduct is implemented in real perspective and more and more voters are enrolled in the voter lists. The training programmes for Booth Level Officers have already started so have started the meetings of the concerned officers with the political parties to create awareness about the whole electoral process. Today special camps are being held all over the country so that young voters are given a final chance to enroll themselves and caste their valuable vote for elect-ing their representatives. This election is called the mother of all elections because the elec-tion situation is totally different from the previous elections. As there is no political group or alliance which seems to be in total command throughout the country, hence the Election Commission has more respon-sibilities to hold free and fair elections as India has the rep-utation of being not only the largest democracy of the world but also because of the institu-tion of Election Commission which has always stood the test of the time and remained un-biased in whatever the condi-tions. The elections to the Lok Sabha will be held in 9 phases and elaborate security arrange-ments are being made to make the situation conducive for the voters who are expected to cast their vote without any coercion or threat perception. There are some areas which are over sen-sitive like North East and Jam-mu & Kashmir and as usual the Election Commission is mak-ing proper security arrange-ments in these areas. If we take example of Panchayat elections in J&K, the large scale partici-pation may be surely an indica-tor that this time also the voters will turn in bulk to cast their vote. It is imperative that the people particularly the young generation votes so that only those representatives are elect-ed who have good image and spotless carrier and will serve the people in a better way and mitigate their problems.

Building not just Roads but Nation

Transport system is consid-ered as the life line of any nation. Road Infrastruc-ture, because of its easy accessibility, flexibility in

operation, door to door service and re-liability occupies a dominant position in the transportation system. It is vital for unleashing economic growth and is a critical component of all inclusive growth. In the last few decades, Road transport in India has registered tre-mendous growth and has become the most preferred mode of transport. The share of road transport in carrying the passengers and goods is more than 80% and 60% of the total passenger and freight movement respectively.

Road Network India has huge network of roads to-talling about 46.90 lakh km. The road density in India at present is nearly 1.43 km per sq. km of area which com-pares favourably with many coun-tries. Responsibility of development of this network rests with the Central Government, State Governments and local Government. National High-ways (NH), having total length of 82,803 km, constitutes less than 2% of the total road network. However, these are the main arteries carrying more than 40% of the total road traf-fic. Development of NHs is the respon-sibility of the Central Government.Good and efficient transport infra-structure is an essential pre-requisite for the economic growth of a nation. It has been the endeavor of the Gov-ernment to provide speedy, safe and efficient road transport network. It is recognized that modernisation of infrastructure is the key to attain higher GDP. India’s Transport sec-tor as a whole contributes about 5.5% to the GDP, with road transport con-tributing the lion’s share. India has emerged as one of the fastest growing economy in the world. According to experts, India could unleash its full potential, provided, it improves the infrastructure facilities, which are at present not sufficient to meet the growing demand of the economy. To address emerging demand by catch-ing up with the economic and social growth of the country, a massive Road development programme has been

taken up in the country.

NHDP The National Highways Develop-ment Project (NHDP) is the flagship programme, for development of less developed areas, dedicated regional programmes like the Special Acceler-ated Road Development Programme for the North-East (SARDP-NE) and the Special Programme for the Left Wing Extremism affected areas have also been taken up. Now, there are plans for building up Expressways in the Country. Three projects i.e. East-ern Peripheral Expressway in National Capital Region, Delhi - Meerut Express-way and Mumbai – Vadodra Express-way covering about 650 km are target-ed during the current financial year. Planning for Bengaluru – Chennai and Delhi – Jaipur Expressways are also in advance stages. All these Expressways will be fully access controlled roads on green field alignment. To meet with the massive require-ment of funds, innovative means of fi-nancing and financing strategies which inter alia include cess on fuel, private sector participation including foreign investment, borrowing from the mar-ket as well as budgetary support have been adopted. A major step was to at-tract foreign as well as domestic invest-ments through Public Private Partner-ship (PPP). Involving the private sector would lead to increasing efficiency with the help of using modern technol-ogy. The private sector has more flex-ible procurement and decision-making procedures and therefore, it can speed up implementation efforts. Allowing private sector to raise capital/funds has paved the way for the Government to use its scarce resources efficiently and effectively. Several new materials of road construction are also emerging that would need to be encouraged de-pending upon their cost effectiveness. For development of National High-ways in the Country in the 12 five year plan targets to invest Rs 1,44,769 crores from budgetary support, Rs 64,834 crores from IEBR and Rs 1,87,995 crores from private sector participation.Launched in 1998, the NHDP program represents the largest road construc-tion project ever undertaken to boost

the development of the National High-ways in the country. The program is aimed at the development of about 50,000 km of National Highways. Golden Quadrilateral which provides four-lane connectivity between four metros, is complete, while the North-South-East-West (NSEW) corridor is about to be completed. Four laning and six laning is underway at many places and progressing at brisk pace, despite the hurdles in land acquisi-tion, obtaining environment and for-est clearances, high cost debt etc,. So far work on more than 21,000 km have been completed and in about 12,350 km works are in progress. Other flag-ship regional programmes which in-cludes SARDP-NE and roads in LWE affected areas covers development of about 12,000 km of roads out of which work has already been completed in about 3800 kms.

Mode of Projects The emphasis has been to take up progressively more and more in-frastructure projects through private sector participation on BOT (Toll) basis so that more public funds are available for social sectors such as Health, Education, etc. However, it would not be practically possible to take up development of the majority of the highway stretches on BOT (Toll) mode. This has reflected in the recent trends of bidding when in majority of roads projects we could not get the favourable response. Accordingly, re-cently, Ministry has decided to take up road projects as turnkey Engineer-ing Procurement Construction (EPC) contracts basis which would help to reduce construction time and is ex-pected to improve quality of work as well. Also, in this system the objec-tive to garner private sector efficiency is retained and the private entrepre-neurs are free to use new technology to speed up their works

New InitiativesE-Tolling The experience on present tolling system is associated with con-gestion and delays at toll plazas. To overcome this, Government has de-cided adoption of Electronic Toll Col-lection (ETC) system across National

Highways in India, which would en-able toll to be collected electronically from vehicles at toll plazas while the vehicle is in motion. Pilot projects have already been taken up in this re-gard which will pave way for nation-wide interoperable ETC at all the toll plazas on National Highways by 2014.New Materials Besides financing, such a mammoth development pro-gramme requires huge amount of natural resources. As such conserva-tion of the material is area of concern for all. There is a need to save scarce physical resource like aggregates, sand, earth, cement, bitumen, etc. looking to huge programme of con-struction of highways in the country. On the other hand, the Nation is facing problem of the disposal & storage of in-dustrial waste like fly-ash, copper slag, marble slurry, etc. Efforts are on in utilizing these waste materials in con-struction of roads through complete/partial replacement of conventional materials. Cashless Treatment of accident Victims (A Road Safety initiative) India has the dubious distinction of having maxi-mum number of fatalities on roads. During the year 2011, there were around 5 lakh road accidents result-ing in the deaths of over 1.42 lakh people. Each day, nearly 390 people die on our roads. In India more than half of road accident victims are in the age group 20-65 years. The loss of the main bread earner and head of household due to death or dis-ability can be catastrophic, leading to lower living standards and poverty, in addition to the human cost of bereave-ment. This is an unacceptable price to pay for mobility. The Ministry has already taken up multi-pronged strategy in his regard. The latest mile-stone in this area is a Pilot Project for “implementation of cashless medical treatment to the accident victims” for the first 48 hours. Under this scheme accident victims will be provided free treatment during this period as a result immediate relief can be pro-vided to the accident victim, which will go a long way in reducing fatali-ties on our road.Completion of programmes already taken up is expected to go a long way in contributing towards building the Nation.

Empowering Mentally Ill to Live with Dignity

Mental health represents a critical indicator of hu-man development, serves as a key determinant of well-being, quality of life

and is the basis for social stability. So-cial and economic impact of poor men-tal health is pervasive and far reaching, leading to poverty, high unemployment rates, poor educational and health out-comes, among others. There is a need for a wider recognition of mental and emotional well-being as a core indicator of human development, and it is neces-sary to integrate a mental health and psychosocial perspective into all devel-opment and humanitarian policies, pro-grammes.Persons with mental and psychosocial disabilities represent a significant pro-portion of the world’s population. One in four people globally experience a mental health condition in their lifetime. Al-most one million people die due to sui-cide every year and depression is ranked third in the global burden of disease, and is projected to rank first in 2030. In India prevalence of mental disorders is 6-7% for common mental disorders and 1-2% for severe mental disorders. Treatment gap for severe mental disorders is ap-proximately 50% and in case of Common mental Disorders it is over 90%.With such a magnitude of mental disorders it becomes necessary to promote mental health services for the well being of gen-eral population, in addition to provide treatment for mental illnesses.Persons with mental and psychosocial disabilities often face stigma and dis-crimination due to widely held miscon-ceptions about the causes and nature of mental health conditions. Persons with mental and psychosocial disabilities also experience high levels of physical abuse. They encounter restrictions in their ex-ercise of socio-politico-economic rights

in the majority of countries, largely due to the false assumption that they are not able to carry out their responsibilities, manage their own affairs and make deci-sions about their lives.Though mental health conditions are one of the leading causes of disability, persons with mental and psychosocial disabilities often lack resources to main-tain basic living standards. Further-more, they are one of the most neglected and discriminated groups in develop-ment policies and programmes. Integra-tion of mental health into development efforts is a cost effective pro-poor strat-egy. There are cost effective treatments available for most mental illnesses, and effective treatment is associated with reductions in overall health-care costs. Child development, education, health, social welfare policies and pro-grammes must integrate mental and psychosocial aspects.In India, National Mental Health Pro-gramme (NMHP) was started in 1982 with the objectives to ensure avail-ability and accessibility of minimum mental health care for all, to encourage mental health knowledge and skills and to promote community participation in mental health service development and to stimulate self-help in the communi-ty. Gradually, the approach of mental health care services has shifted from hospital based care (institutional) to community based mental health care, as majority of mental disorders do not require hospitalization and can be managed at community level. During IX five year plan, Dis-trict Mental Health Programme was initiated (1996) and at present DMHP is covering 123 districts in 30 States and UTs. In addition to early identifi-cation and treatment of mentally ill, District Mental Health Programme has now incorporated promotive and pre-

ventive activities for positive mental health which includes; School Mental Health services; College Counselling services; work place stress manage-ment and suicide prevention services. Efforts are being made to improve hu-man resource availability in mental health sector so that mentally ill gets required attention and persons hav-ing a predilection for mentally illness can get good advice, counselling at the initial stages itself. Components of NHMP are being brought under the overall umbrella of National Rural Health Mission so that the States are able to plan requirements concern-ing Mental Health services as part of the respective project plans. Rs.623.45 crore has been approved as XI plan out-lay (upto 2012) for the National Mental Health Programme.However, recognizing the difficulties/stigma faced by mentally ill persons the Government is in the process of providing a humane, patient centric le-gal framework for mentally ill patients. The proposed Mental Health Care bill can be a ‘Game changer’ in the life of millions of mentally ill persons who were often victims of inhuman and degrading treatment, abuse and ridi-cule, both at the community level and at health care delivery establishments.The proposed Mental Health Care bill is significant in terms of Rights’ Approach that is being adopted to give pre-emi-nence to the preferences and opinion of the mentally ill person to a major extent. Provisions like ‘Advance Directive’ em-powers every person to make directive on how he wishes to be cared and treated for mental illness or not. Other salient provisions are;· A mentally ill person admitted to a mental health establish-ment shall have a right to receive or re-fuse visitors, phone calls, mail,etc· A mentally ill person has a right

to have treatment in his locality / resi-dence and can prefer only minimum treatment/care at mental health estab-lishments. This is to ensure that the pa-tient is allowed to live in, be part of and not be segregated from society to the ex-tent possible· Every patient has a right to protec-tion from cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment and the mental health estab-lishment shall be safe, clean with facili-ties for education, recreation, religious practices.· No patient shall be forced to un-dertake work and subject to compulsory shaving of head and wearing of uni-forms.· Mental illness may be made eligible for medical insurance coverage.· Government is duty-bound to plan, implement mental health programmes and create awareness about mental health and illness to reduce the associ-ated with mental illness· Every person will have access to mental health care and treatment at af-fordable cost, of good quality and of req-uisite quantity, accusable to the report, their families and care givers· Government should interpret men-tal health services into general health care services at all levels in all health programmes.· Government shall arrange good quality care and treatment in hospitals funded by government and in case of non availability in nearby place; refund the costs of treatment to the patient.To conclude, a mentally well person means a healthy society and developed nation. It is not enough if we have best health care services, protective legisla-tion unless the stigma, discrimination and widely held misconceptions at-tached to mental illness are weeded out and community becomes more empa-thetic towards such persons.