The Kashmir Pulse

SRINAGAR — Authorities in Jammu and Kashmir have deported around 150 Bangladeshi nationals after discrepancies in their Aadhaar details prompted verification of their nationality, officials said on Monday.

The individuals, who were working as labourers in Kashmir, were flown out in a special Indian Air Force aircraft to Bagdogra in West Bengal, where they were handed over to the Border Security Force (BSF) for onward repatriation to Bangladesh, officials said.

According to an official, the workers were asked to produce their Aadhaar cards during a registration exercise. Discrepancies in the information provided by some of them led authorities to conduct further verification.

Their details were subsequently shared with authorities in Bangladesh, which confirmed their nationality, following which action was initiated under the provisions of the Foreigners Act, the official said.

After being handed over to the BSF at Bagdogra, the deportees are to be escorted to the India-Bangladesh international border for repatriation, according to the officials.

The action comes amid an intensified exercise by the J&K administration to identify and remove foreign nationals it considers to be residing in the Union Territory without valid documentation.

The latest action also follows the field visit of a Centre-appointed High-Level Committee on Demographic Changes to Jammu and the Jammu region from August 10 to 12.

During its visit, the committee inspected the Rohingya settlement at Karyani Talab in Narwal and visited the Jagti Migrant Township, where it interacted with displaced Kashmiri Pandits.

The panel also met J&K Chief Secretary Atal Dulloo, DGP Nalin Prabhat and representatives of social and political groups to gather views on demographic changes and immigration-related issues, according to the supplied material.

The committee is headed by retired Supreme Court judge Justice Prakash Prabhakar Naolekar and was constituted by the Ministry of Home Affairs following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s announcement of a high-powered demography mission.

Government data presented during the committee’s visit put the number of identified Bangladeshi nationals in Jammu and Kashmir at 504, including 46 in the Jammu region and 458 in Kashmir. The figures were reported in August.

The administration has also initiated action concerning properties where undocumented families are alleged to have been residing and issued notices to some private landowners, officials said.

Another batch of around 150 Bangladeshi nationals is expected to be deported on October 7, according to officials.

The latest action forms part of the administration’s wider exercise to verify the nationality and documentation status of foreign nationals residing in Jammu and Kashmir.

SRINAGAR — The Jammu and Kashmir administration has cleared 53 additional industrial units under the New Central Sector Scheme (NCSS), with the projects expected to attract around ₹1,626 crore in investment and generate nearly 2,902 employment opportunities across the Union Territory.

Of the newly approved units, 35 will be established in the Jammu division and 18 in the Kashmir division, according to official sources.

With the latest approvals, the total number of industrial units registered under the NCSS in Jammu and Kashmir has risen to 971 from 918 earlier.

The 918 units approved previously are expected to bring an investment of around ₹12,668 crore, including approximately ₹9,220 crore in plant and machinery, and are projected to generate nearly 48,995 employment opportunities.

The latest batch of 53 units is expected to add around ₹1,294 crore in plant and machinery investment, with the overall proposed investment associated with these projects estimated at ₹1,626 crore.

Officials said several major national-level business groups are among the newly approved units.

More units may get approval

The latest approvals follow a decision by the Central Government’s Apex Committee to utilise savings available under the ₹28,400-crore Industrial Development Scheme for Jammu and Kashmir.

The Apex Committee had permitted the use of approximately ₹5,630.74 crore in savings under the scheme for registering additional industrial units beyond the 918 already approved.

Officials said the exact incentives applicable to the newly cleared 53 units were still being calculated.

Once the incentive liability is finalised, the administration will be able to determine the amount of funding that remains available and how many more units awaiting approval can be accommodated under the scheme.

Savings from investment and GST changes

The administration had informed the Apex Committee that substantial savings had emerged from the difference between investments projected in Detailed Project Reports and actual investments made by industrial units in plant and machinery.

An estimated ₹4,551.01 crore was available from this difference, while another ₹1,079.74 crore was available from the overall approved allocation, taking the estimated available amount to around ₹5,630.75 crore.

Around ₹3,500 crore of the expected savings reportedly arose following changes in GST rates.

The Apex Committee has also permitted fungibility and reappropriation of funds among different incentive components, including Capital Investment Incentive, Capital Interest Subvention, GST-linked Incentive and Working Capital Interest Subvention, based on actual and projected requirements.

The adjustments, however, are to be made without increasing or altering the overall approved allocation under the scheme.

J&K seeks larger incentive allocation

The New Central Sector Scheme was launched on April 1, 2021, with a total outlay of ₹28,400 crore and is scheduled to continue until 2037.

In view of the response from investors and the number of applications received for industrial registration, the Jammu and Kashmir administration has sought an increase in the incentive allocation to ₹75,000 crore.

The proposed enhancement is aimed at accommodating additional industrial projects and supporting further investment and employment generation in the Union Territory.

Industrial units registered under the scheme will remain eligible for incentives until 2037, with projects expected to come up across different parts of Jammu and Kashmir.

The Industrial Development Scheme was introduced with the broader objective of promoting industrial growth in Jammu and Kashmir, attracting private investment and generating employment.

The original policy had envisaged the creation of around three lakh jobs, while the administration has subsequently projected higher employment generation in view of the response from investors. (KNC)

BHOPAL — Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday said India’s criminal justice system was undergoing a major transformation with the implementation of the three new criminal laws, which he said were aimed at making justice faster, technology-driven and citizen-centric.

Addressing a conference of cattle rearers in Bhopal after inaugurating an exhibition on the new criminal laws, Shah said the new framework, once fully implemented, would enable cases to move from registration of an FIR to the Supreme Court within three years.

The three laws — the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) and Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (BSA) — came into force across India on July 1, 2024, replacing the Indian Penal Code, Code of Criminal Procedure and Indian Evidence Act.

Shah said the new system placed greater emphasis on technology, electronic evidence, online hearings, video conferencing and forensic science, besides provisions relating to women’s safety, missing children, terrorism and mob lynching.

He described “justice”, rather than “punishment”, as the core principle of the new criminal laws and said the framework was intended to protect the dignity, property and physical security of citizens.

According to Shah, the earlier criminal justice system was associated with prolonged litigation and repeated adjournments, which he described as the era of “tareekh pe tareekh”. He said the new laws were designed to introduce greater certainty and time-bound processes into criminal justice.

The Home Minister also spoke at length about the cooperative sector and dairy development, saying cooperatives could help livestock rearers secure better prices for milk and benefit from processing and value addition instead of depending heavily on intermediaries.

He highlighted what he termed “White Revolution 2.0”, under which the Centre has set a target of establishing 75,000 new dairy cooperatives and strengthening 46,000 existing ones.

Shah said India’s milk production had increased substantially over the past decade. The Union government’s account of his speech put production at about 14.60 crore tonnes in 2014-15 and around 24.80 crore tonnes at present, while per capita milk availability had risen from about 307 grams per day to 485 grams.

He also highlighted five technology-based models for the scientific collection and processing of cattle dung, saying they could help reduce methane emissions, recycle nutrients, generate clean energy and create additional rural economic opportunities.

The Home Minister said efforts were also being made to establish a mechanism under which cattle owners in Madhya Pradesh could receive fair prices for cow dung.

He further emphasised the role of modern technologies in improving cattle breeds, animal health and milk productivity, including the use of sex-sorted semen.

On narcotics, Shah said the Centre and Madhya Pradesh Government would prepare a detailed plan to make the state free from drugs and narcotics by December 31, 2029. The target was reiterated in reporting from the Bhopal event.

During the programme, Shah also criticised the Congress over the long-standing demand for a separate Ministry of Cooperation and credited the Narendra Modi government with establishing the ministry. His remarks were part of his wider political criticism of the opposition.

He said India should become a leading country across sectors by Aug. 15, 2047, and attributed the objective to the wider development agenda of the Modi government.

Several projects and initiatives were also announced or inaugurated during the programme.

Shah digitally laid the foundation stone for a ₹255-crore milk processing plant in Ujjain with a capacity of three lakh litres per day.

A 40,000-litre-per-day Product Dairy Plant and a state-level central laboratory were also inaugurated in Bhopal, while strengthening work on a mini dairy plant in Shivpuri was completed as another programme initiative.

An MoU between KRIBHCO and the Madhya Pradesh State Biodiversity Board for development of an urban forest in Bhopal under the Morvan Project was also exchanged in Shah’s presence.

The programme brought together discussions on criminal justice reform, dairy cooperatives, livestock development, anti-drug measures and environmental initiatives, with Shah stressing technology, cooperative institutions and greater economic participation in rural areas.