Use of pellets on protesters must be banned: J&K Cong chief

Jammu and Kashmir Congress chief GA Mir today demanded an immediate ban on the use of pellet guns on protesters by security forces in the Valley.
"The pellets have already inflicted serious damages to hundreds of people. Their use must be banned immediately," he said, urging the authorities dealing with law-and-order to exercise restraint and avoid use of lethal weapons on the protesters.
Describing the prevailing law-and-order situation in the Valley as "dangerous", Mir urged the Centre and the state government to move ahead with a "great sense of responsibility" to put an end to the ongoing unrest.
"The deteriorating (law-and-order) situation is dangerous and a great loss to the state. The Centre and the state government should move ahead with a great sense of responsibility and make serious efforts to reach out to the people (to end the unrest)," he said in a statement here.

Underlining the need to adopt a "holistic approach" to put an end to the unrest, Mir urged the Centre and the state government to make "serious efforts" to restore normalcy in the Valley.
He also called for avoiding the "use of force or bullets" on people.

"Both the state and Central governments need to ensure the safety of the common innocent people," he said.
Describing the recent killing of an ATM guard allegedly by CRPF personnel at Chattabal here as "highly condemnable", the state Congress chief lashed out at the ruling PDP-BJP combine in the state alleging that it was not even able to stop the killings of "innocent" people.

"These unfortunate incidents reflect the inability and inefficiency of the coalition government to handle the crisis. Killing or injuring the people without any provocation gives rise to anger, besides making it difficult, almost impossible, to restore peace.
"This is unfortunate that the state government is still in a moribund condition and not able to stop the innocent killings which is a matter of serious concern," Mir said.
A Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee
spokesperson said the convention at SKICC was called to debate and discuss the impact of demonetisation, "interference" in democratic institutions by the state government and other issues.

Claiming that demonetisation was "implemented without being discussed or approved by the RBI, which was sidelined by the Prime Minister by taking a unilateral decision", he said Congress has sought clarification from the Centre over the note-ban issue.
The JKPCC president also demanded that all restrictions on withdrawal of money be lifted with immediate effect, the spokesperson said.
"The party has five demands. First, all restrictions should be lifted. Till the time these restrictions are in place, a special interest at the rate of 18 per cent per annum should be given to all bank account holders. All charges on digital transactions should be abolished forthwith," he said.

The rate of rations distributed under the PDS should be halved for a year under the provisions of the Food Security Act. In addition, a special one-time bonus of 20 per cent should be provided over and above the minimum sale price of all Rabi crops, the party spokesperson said.
"Rs 25,000 should be deposited in the account of at least one woman belonging to each BPL family as compensation for the immense suffering caused to women due to demonetisation," he said, adding the number of guaranteed work days and the wage rate under MGNREGA should be doubled for a year.

"Government should organise a special drive to identify and register all those who have lost jobs since November 8 (when demonetisation was announced) and give them compensation at the applicable minimum wage rate," the spokesperson said.
He said the fifth demand of the party is that an Income Tax and Sales tax rebate of 50 per cent should be given to small shopkeepers.