In this Issue... • A record number of pilgrims visit Vaishno Devi in 2010 • Kashmiri students to get technical training across the country • Srinagar’s youth eager to join the police force • Cricket academy to be set up • Youth exchange program • Snowfall makes apple growers happy • Beat the chill with Harissa • Ladakh promotes winter sports • Heli skiing adding another dimension to Gulmarg Vol.II, No.3, March, 2011 A record number of pilgrims visit Vaishno Devi in 2010 A record number of pilgrims vis- Despite disturbances in the Kash- ited the Vaishno Devi Shrine dedi- mir Valley, the number of pilgrims cated to Shakti, the Goddess of to the cave shrine has broken the Power, in 2010. record of previous years. This was the highest pilgrim turn- “The pilgrimage to Vaishno Devi out in the past two decades. has set a new milestone in 2010 with a record number of 87,49,326 The Vaishno Devi Temple is lo- lakh pilgrims visiting the cave cated at an altitude of 5,200 feet shrine. It has broken the previ- in the Trikuta Hills around 13 km ous record of 82,34,896 pilgrims from Katra that serves as the base in 2009,” said the Additional Chief camp for pilgrims. Executive Offi cer of Mata Vaish- The pilgrimage in the lower Hi- no Devi Shrine Board (SMVSB), malayas sees scores of devotees Mandeep Bhandari. ascend steep pathways that cut About 67,92,223 pilgrims visited across the hillside. the shrine in 2008, 74.17 lakh in Dipping temperatures in the Hi- 2007 and 69.5 lakh in 2006. malayan region did not deter In 1986, just 13.95 lakh pilgrims devotees as they lined up at the visited the shrine. However, mas- base camp, waiting their turn to sive infrastructure development trek uphill. along the track from Katra to the “For the last two hours, we have shrine continues to attract devo- been standing in queue for a tick- tees each year. et. I think it will take another two Pilgrims, especially Hindus, from hours, but we are here for the all over the world, visit Vaishno Yatra (pilgrimage) and we wonʼt Devi, making it the second most go back without completing it,” visited shrine in India, after the Ti- said Ashish Kumar, a pilgrim from rumala Venkateshwara temple in New Delhi. Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh. 2 Kashmiri students to get technical training across the country About 8,000 students from Jammu and Kash- mir are to be given technical training in various job-oriented trades at Industrial Training Insti- tutes (ITIs) located in different states across the country. R. S. Chib, the Education Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, recently flagged off a batch of 70 students who will be trained in Panchkula, Haryana, from Srinagar. The state government in collaboration with the Central Government has activated this initiative under the Prime Ministerʼs special program for Skill Development of Youth from Jammu and Kashmir. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had an- nounced the scheme for Kashmiri youth in 2009 during his visit to the state. Suraiya Jan, one of the students going to Hary- ana for technical training, described it as a posi- tive step for the youth of Kashmir, as it would encourage them to be industrious, rather than being solely dependent on government jobs. “This training will be extremely beneficial for us, as we will acquire technical skills. With techni- cal training, we will not have to rely on anyone for jobs. Instead we can be self-reliant. Once we come back after the training, we can open our own industrial outlet,” said Jan. Out of the 8,000 youth, various Vocational Training Providers (VTPs) registered under the Director General of Employment and Training (DGET) will train 6,000 students throughout the country, while the remaining 25 percent will be trained in Jammu and Kashmir. The Department of Technical Education of Jammu and Kashmir is providing all facilities for the youths during the training program, free of cost. “About 8,000 youths will be trained in 2010-11. Two thousand will be trained in ITIs located in Kashmir and 6,000 outside Kashmir. All bills re- lated to traveling, books and boarding will taken care of by the government,” said Chib. The state government has set itself a target of training four million youth by 2022 in different technical courses to enable them get jobs with- in and outside country. 3 Cricket academy to be set up The Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association (JKCA), the top gov- erning body of the game in the state, is going ahead with plans to set up the stateʼs fi rst cricket academy with the assistance of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in an effort to pro- mote the sport in the region. It is hoped that the academy will improve the skills of budding Kashmir Valley cricketers. Owais Ahmad, a cricket enthusi- ast, said the upcoming academy would give a boost to the game in the state. “There are people who have no idea about cricket, but they still Srinagar’s youth eager to come to play in the stadium ev- ery day. Thatʼs their passion for join the police force the game, and if they are taught, I think there will be thousands of Jammu and Kashmir Police re- that some headway has to be people wanting to learn cricket at cently organized a recruitment made to get some youths into this academy,” said Ahmad. drive to fi ll up 300 police con- our ranks, into our force to ad- The construction of the academy stable vacancies. The drive was dress the problem of the youth in and the renovation of the Sher- confi ned to residents of the Khan- this area,” said Khoda. yar area in the old city in Srinagar “This recruitment into the Jammu and thousands of applicants took and Kashmir Police has been part in it. done with a specifi c purpose-to The young aspirants welcomed address the under represen- the recruitment drive, saying it tation of Srinagar boys in our would help improve the situation force,” he added. in the valley and reduce unem- Secondly, this drive is aimed at ployment. building bridges with the people, “There is a lot of unemployment. to understand the problems of When young and educated boys the youth and to develop a rap- do not get jobs, they have to work port with the youth, so that they as labourers, which makes them can understand the problems of unhappy. But when they get jobs this area better and police the in the police, they will be happy area better,” said Khoda. and it will improve the condition of Khoda also said the huge turnout the valley,” said Shabir Ahmad, a indicated that Srinagarʼs youth resident of Srinagar. supported the police, and added Director-General of Police Kul- that he wanted them to join the dip Khoda supervised the drive, force in large numbers. which attracted at least 8,000 job- This was the fi rst on-the-spot re- less youth. cruitment drive in the city in 20 “We generally found during the years. summer crisis of law and order, The impressive turnout of youth that Srinagar city is highly under- is perhaps indicative of changing represented in the police. We felt times in Kashmir. 4 Cricket academy to be set up e-Kashmir cricket stadium are in progress. According to Saleem Khan, Sec- retary of the JKCA, the academy will be ready by March or April 2011. “Although, the construction of the academy has been delayed, but by March or April, this stadium will be completed. The remain- ing infrastructure will be ready by end of the year. Some interior work, the academy, the gym and the swimming pool will be ready Youth exchange program soon,” said Khan. Once the academy is functional, Young participants from Jammu entation on Mahatma Gandhiʼs budding cricketers and other and Kashmir recently took part life and mission. enthusiasts will have access to in a week-long exchange pro- “The Youth Exchange Program proper infrastructure and training gram to Andhra Pradesh, Mad- is good because India is a big facilities to actualize their poten- hya Pradesh, Orissa, Maharash- country. Every young person tial and compete with the best in tra and Rajasthan, where they from Jammu and Kashmir should the country. met eminent personalities, vis- participate in such camps to work ited important sites, stayed with The academy is just one among for peace,” said Mohammad Altaf host families, and interacted with many other activities started by Dar, a resident of Badgam. the state government to give a NGOs and local youth, besides boost to sports and to strengthen experiencing rural life. “We were provided a chance to interact with youth leaders and I sports-related infrastructure. In Madhya Pradesh, the partici- am happy with the interaction, as pants met the Governor, Ramesh- it brought us closer to each oth- war Thakur, and visited important er” said Abbas Ahmad Gojri from sites in Bhopal, Ujjain, Chattarpur Hanwara in Kupwara District. and Vidisha. A two-day orientation camp was In Orissa, they visited Ganjam held earlier in Jammu to sensitize District, where they interacted the participants on issues of na- with the families of soldiers who tional integration and communal had laid down their lives dur- harmony. ing the 1999 Kargil War and ex- pressed solidarity with them. Two Chief Minister Omar Abdullah teams visited Cuttack and Puri as fl agged off a contingent of over well. 400 youth for the tour under the Jammu and Kashmir Youth Ex- In Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, change Program 2010, which they sampled the cityʼs famous was organized by the Nehru Yuva Biryani and visited Char Minar Kendra Sangathan.