DEREGISTER DUBIOUS LOC TRADERS, SAYS J&K GOVERNOR

SRINAGAR: Jammu and Kashmir governor NN Vohra on Wednesday ordered verification of all traders who are engaged in cross-loc trade within one month and deregister those with doubtful antecedents in a bid to ensure transparency in trade.

Vohra chaired a high-level meeting to identify and review issues related to cross-loc trade. J&K DGP SP Vaid, principal secretary (industries and commerce) Shailendra Kumar and chief secretary BVR Subrahmanyam were among those present in the meeting.

The governor was briefed about the procedures involved in the trade, approved list of tradable goods, process flow of the trade, time-frame for installation of full truck body scanners, valuation mechanism and the role of different central and state agencies.

“The governor directed the DGP and the principal secretary to undertake complete verification of all traders engaged in LOC trade within one month. The traders who do not furnish the required documents or have doubtful antecedents should be deregistered without delay,” a Raj Bhawan spokesperson said.

Vohra directed that the roster of movements should be finalised well in advance and publicised online on the first day of every month. He asked to set up one-point screening of all trade vehicles, a mechanism to detect smuggling of narcotics or banned items and check undervaluation of goods. He also ordered the installation of CCTV cameras at the trading centres within 60 days, the spokesperson said.

Vohra directed Subrahmanyam to ensure that amendments are made in the required standard operating procedure to ensure that no trader can transfer his turn to another. Vohra directed Kumar to take steps to computerise records and ensure that traders reconcile accounts with their counter-parties every three months.