REGIONAL

Danishwar Hameed Residents of Yaroo DH Pora in south Kashmir’s Kulgam district on Saturday staged a strong protest against the Power Development Department (PDD), alleging prolonged power outages and official negligence. The agitated residents blocked the DH Pora–Kulgam road for over two hours, leading to disruption of vehicular movement and inconvenience to commuters. Chanting slogans against the department, the protesters accused the authorities of ignoring their repeated pleas for restoration of a proper electricity supply. “We have been facing power cuts for months now. Despite several complaints, no action has been taken,” one of the protesters told The Kashmiriyat, appealing to higher authorities to intervene immediately. Police and officials from the local administration...

Shabir Khan A major controversy has broken out in Baramulla following the government’s proposal to transfer 32 kanals of land belonging to the District Industries Centre (DIC) for the expansion of the Government Medical College (GMC) Baramulla. The move, which authorities describe as part of an effort to strengthen healthcare infrastructure in north Kashmir, has drawn sharp criticism from local traders and residents who fear large-scale displacement and job loss. According to officials, the Industries & Commerce Department has proposed the transfer of 32 kanals of DIC land to the Health and Medical Education Department for GMC’s expansion. However, locals claim that the area houses around 200 shops and dozens of small industrial units, and the acquisition would render hundr...

The Principal Sessions Judge, Baramulla, has awarded 14 years of rigorous imprisonment and a fine of ₹50,000 to a man convicted under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Ordinance and Section 447 of the RPC for sexually assaulting a 17-year-old girl in 2018. The court, presided over by Principal Sessions Judge Jawad Ahmed, according to the Srinagar-based news agency Kashmir Dot Com, observed that the offence was committed with “barbaric intent,” describing it as an act that inflicted deep psychological and emotional trauma not only upon the victim but also upon her entire family. The court rejected the defence’s request for leniency, stating that the convict’s personal hardships “cannot outweigh the enormity of his crime.” The verdict followed detailed proceedi...

Jammu Kashmir government has submitted a proposal to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) seeking an increase in monthly relief assistance for Kashmiri and Jammu migrants. Migrants under the relief category currently receive free ration — 9 kg of rice and 2 kg of atta per person, and 1 kg of sugar per family — along with a cash assistance of Rs 3,250 per person per month, capped at Rs 13,000 per family. “The enhancement of relief assistance is within the domain of the Ministry of Home Affairs. A proposal for the same has already been submitted for consideration,” the government said in a written reply during the ongoing Assembly session. On pending migrant registration cases, officials said that of the 1,263 provisionally registered cases, 351 have been cleared while 658 were recomm...

The General Administration Department (GAD) today informed the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly that a total of 1,00,501 casual labourers, daily-rated workers, and other need-based employees have been registered online through Aadhaar-based biometric identification and skill profiling. The details were shared by the GAD in response to a question raised by the MLA from Pulwama, Wahid Para, confirming that the process of Aadhaar-linked registration had been completed across all departments in the Union Territory. According to the official data, the Public Health Engineering, Irrigation and Flood Control Department (PHE/I&FC) has the highest number of such workers at 13,616, followed by the Power Development Department (including PDC) with 38,585, and the Education Department with 12,646 ...

Jammu Kashmir has registered more than 2,800 cases of domestic violence in the last two years, with a 121 per cent spike in reported incidents in the last financial year, the legislative assembly was informed on Thursday. Responding to a question by National Conference (NC) MLA from Habbakadal, Shamim Firdous, Minister for Social Welfare Sakina Itoo said 2,872 domestic violence cases were registered during the last two years at One Stop Centres for Women and on the Mission Shakti dashboard in Jammu and Kashmir. Out of these, 893 cases were registered in 2023-24, while 1,979 were lodged in 2024-25, the minister said. According to the data, an additional 1,086 domestic violence cases — 121.61 per cent — were registered in the last financial year compared to 2023-24. The government ...

Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha has dismissed two government employees from service under Article 311 of the Constitution, citing their alleged involvement in activities linked to militancy. The move, according to officials, underscores the Jammu Kashmir administration’s continued “zero-tolerance policy” towards any form of support for militancy or subversive acts. The employees dismissed are Ghulam Hussain, a teacher in the Education Department from Reasi district, and Majid Iqbal Dar, a teacher and former Lab Assistant. Officials said Hussain was accused of acting as an Over Ground Worker (OGW) for the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) outfit, maintaining contact with militants and allegedly facilitating their recruitment and financial networks in parts of Reasi. Majid Iqbal Dar, on the other ha...

The Revenue Department of Jammu and Kashmir has revealed a significant regional imbalance in the issuance of social category certificates over the last two years, exposing a deep divide between the Jammu and Kashmir divisions.Kashmir travel guide The data, shared in the Legislative Assembly in response to a question raised by PDP legislator Waheed Para, shows a striking disparity in how Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribe (ST), Other Backward Class (OBC), Economically Weaker Section (EWS), Reserved Backward Area (RBA), and Actual Line of Control (ALC) certificates were distributed. According to official figures, Jammu accounted for 99.2 percent of SC certificates, while Kashmir registered just 0.67 percent. Similarly, 87.2 percent of ST and 88.5 percent of EWS certificates were iss...

Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly Speaker Abdul Rahim Rather on Wednesday stopped National Conference (NC) MLA Mubarak Gul from speaking in Kashmiri during the Zero Hour, citing the absence of a translator in the House. Gul had begun his speech in Kashmiri, narrating his recent interaction with local youth who voiced concern over the growing encroachments and illegal constructions around water bodies. However, the Speaker interrupted him, saying his remarks could not be recorded in the official proceedings. “Why are you speaking in the Kashmiri language without permission? There is no translator available in the House, so your speech will not go on record,” the Speaker said, interrupting the MLA mid-speech. Following the intervention, Gul switched to Urdu and criticised the governm...

The Jammu and Kashmir government has said that a total of 5,478 brides from Budgam district have received financial assistance under the State Marriage Assistance Scheme (SMAS) over the past two fiscal years. According to official data placed before the Legislative Assembly in response to a question by MLA Ali Mohammad Dar, the beneficiaries were supported under the Social Welfare Department’s Marriage Assistance Scheme, which provides financial aid to women from economically weaker families holding Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) or Priority Household (PHH) ration cards. In 2023–24, assistance was provided to 2,654 beneficiaries out of 3,158 applicants, while in 2024–25, 2,824 women benefited from the scheme out of 3,107 applications. A total of 787 cases are still under process. Bet...