‘Ekta, Mamata’

the J&K government decided to lift a 51-day curfew in the Valley from Monday, except in Pulwama town and a few areas of Srinagar.

Modi, who met J&K Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Saturday and a delegation of Opposition leaders led by former CM Omar Abdullah last Monday, said, “All political parties spoke in one voice on Kashmir, sending out a strong message to the world as well as separatists, and also expressed our sensitiveness towards the people of Kashmir. There was one common thread in my interaction with all parties on Kashmir. If I say it in a nutshell, Ekta (unity) and Mamata (compassion) were the crux of all interactions. This is the opinion of all of us, the 125 crore people of the country — from the village head to the Prime Minister — that any life lost in Kashmir, be it of any youth or security personnel, is our loss, the loss of the nation.”

The Prime Minister also spoke on a range of issues in the course of his 35minute address, including relations with Pakistan, the canonization of Mother Teresa, GST, Swachh Bharat, gas subsidy, floods, teacher-student relationships and sports in the context of India’s performance at the Rio Olympics. FULL STORY ON

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the school and college stage), Power and Energy, Health, and Finance departments, corporations, maritime bodies, etc. In the new draft, all responsibilities of all departments and stakeholders — barring the role of the police — have been removed.

The original draft defined the role of a Security Sub-committee (SSC) to review security arrangements in public and private areas, including large private commercial establishments, residential colonies, schools, hospitals, water reservoirs, water supply schemes, etc. Roles and detailed mitigation strategy were defined, covering the role of the Fire Brigade, Health department and its hospitals, municipal shelters, transit camps, transport establishments, municipal corporations, nagar panchayats and industrial townships. All chapters and clauses around them have been removed in the new draft, and no clear accountability remains.

Asked for a reaction, Fadnavis said, “I don’t have information about draft of 2014, which you are mentioning.”

He added: “Whether it’s that draft or this draft, it has not come for the consideration of Cabinet or government as yet. The draft was shared by the department for suggestions and objections. A very premature discussion was started with many misinterpretations. That is why I have directed the ACS Home to withdraw that draft from public domain. A comprehensive draft will be prepared and put up before all-party meeting and after broad consensus it will be placed before Cabinet and then for public suggestion and objections. Based on that a draft will be finalised by Cabinet and placed before legislature. Since there is no discussion or decision, it’s a very premature discussion.”