Jammu, Sep 26: Leader of Opposition (LOP) in the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly, Sunil Sharma on Saturday called upon Union Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi.

The meeting assumed significance as it occurred a day after the Chief Minister Omar Abdullah moved a resolution in the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly, in continuation to the resolutions passed by the House on June 26, 2000 and November 6, 2024, calling upon the Government of India for the immediate and urgent restoration of full statehood to Jammu and Kashmir.

In the aftermath of the resolution, the BJP, which opposed it tooth and nail in the House, later in a press conference in Jammu on September 25, appealed to the Union Home Minister Amit Shah to immediately dismiss the J&K government, which, it alleged, “crossed its constitutional limits by passing a resolution that endangered the sovereignty and integrity of the nation.”

However, the official statement, issued by BJP, about LOP’s meeting with the Union Home Minister made no mention of it, explicitly.

As per the statement, the duo held detailed discussions on a range of important issues concerning Jammu and Kashmir.

During the meeting, Sharma apprised the Union Home Minister of matters related to the prevailing security situation, law and order, development initiatives, public concerns and matters related to the ongoing session of the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly.

He also raised the issue of enhancement of salaries of Special Police Officers (SPOs), which was at the final stage and requested that the matter be expedited for its early conclusion.

Sharma also highlighted key concerns being raised by the people of Jammu and Kashmir and discussed matters requiring continued attention, coordination, and support from the union government. The interaction, as per official statement, provided an opportunity to the duo to “deliberate on strengthening security, accelerating development initiatives and addressing issues related to public welfare across the Union Territory.”

During the discussion, HM Amit Shah reiterated the union government’s commitment to peace, development, and prosperity in Jammu and Kashmir and assured continued support and cooperation in addressing matters concerning the people of the Union Territory.

Sunil Sharma expressed his gratitude to the Union Home Minister for his guidance and continued support on issues concerning the security, development, and welfare of the people of Jammu and Kashmir, the statement read.

With regard to statehood resolution, which triggered political storm, BJP MLAs, while demanding dismissal of Omar-government, on September 25 had asserted that it (resolution moved by the NC-led government) was not confined to the legitimate demand for statehood and instead it sought to bring back issues concerning autonomy, separate identity and the pre-1953 arrangement.

Former minister and MLA Sham Sharma, during the presser in Jammu on September 25, had maintained that the situation was very alarming as the National Conference-Congress government was “attempting to overrun its constitutional domain, challenge Parliament and Supreme Court and thus endangering sovereignty and integrity of the nation.”

BJP MLAs pointed out that the most serious concern in the resolution of September 25, 2026 was the reference to the resolution of June 26, 2000, which, they said, represented the demand for restoration of the pre-1953 arrangement and greater autonomy.

The 2000 resolution had sought restoration of greater autonomy to the erstwhile State of Jammu and Kashmir.

“The present resolution, read together with the two earlier resolutions, was an alarming development. The references raised questions about demands concerning autonomy, separate identity and other arrangements that went far beyond the issue of restoration of statehood,” the J&K BJP leaders had pointed out.

The issue of Special Police Officers (SPOs), which also figured during deliberations between the Union Home Minister and LoP Sunil Sharma, pertained to their long-pending demand for enhancement of the honorarium.

LOP Sharma recently divulged that good news for SPOs was in the offing as the matter was taken up with the concerned authorities and that several meetings and communications had taken place between Police Headquarters and the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).

According to Sharma, the formalities for processing the proposal had been completed and Police Headquarters had forwarded a proposal for enhancement of SPO honorarium to the MHA.

“The proposal is presently under consideration with the Ministry of Home Affairs. Very soon, you will hear that the salaries of SPOs have been enhanced,” he had reaffirmed.

Recalling the previous enhancement in SPO remuneration from Rs 6000 to Rs 18,000 in 2014, Sharma said the increase had taken into account their period of service.

New Delhi, Sep 26: The Election Commission on Saturday said its key decisions on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls had been taken with the “unanimous approval” of all three commissioners, rejecting suggestions of differences within the poll panel over the exercise.

Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi attended the Commission’s meeting at Nirvachan Sadan on Saturday.

The EC in a statement announced some decisions on the SIR and the commission’s internal functioning, and laid out its position on a letter written to the Cabinet Secretary, reportedly by Sandhu and Joshi as media reports asserted.

The controversy spans objections raised by Joshi and Sandhu on issues such as changes to Form 6 used for new voter enrolment, the functioning of the online system ECINET, the redistribution of work in the IT division, appeals in the West Bengal SIR, and the handling of cases involving voters in Goa, for instance. In an immediate response earlier, the EC had argued that internal disagreements were part of its democratic functioning.

Point-By-Point Clarification
On the Form 6 issue, questions were raised over a declaration attached to the form during the SIR process, asking prospective voters to map to the previous SIR via their parents’ names. The commission’s note said the declaration was upheld by the Supreme Court. It added that outside the SIR period, forms prescribed under the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, would be used.

On ECINET, concerns were raised over access to the electoral-roll database and the functioning of the portal. The commission said field officers have role-based access according to their statutory powers. It also announced a review of the ECINET by a committee headed by a Senior Deputy Election Commissioner and including an independent expert from an IIT or IIIT. The commission said any further flexibility required by field officers would be made operational too. It also decided that all new initiatives involving IT modules and portals would be discussed by the committee of officers before being placed before the commission for approval.

Another issue concerned a letter sent to the Cabinet Secretary over the redistribution of work “involving an officer on deputation to the EC”. The commission said the letter was not related to any policy matter of the EC or its IT division, but to the functioning of the officer. It said the work redistribution orders objected to were not implemented after directions from the two commissioners, and that oversight of the IT division by a Deputy Election Commissioner was never withdrawn.

On the SIR, it said the June 24, 2025, order launching the exercise across states and Union Territories was issued with the unanimous approval of the commission — an assertion made by EC sources on Friday too. The press note said subsequent schedules were also issued with unanimous approval. It noted that the Supreme Court had upheld the original SIR order.

The commission pointedly addressed the case of 97 voters in Goa who had been left out of the electoral rolls. It said the Goa Chief Electoral Officer had directed Booth Level Officers to conduct house-to-house visits and collect their forms. Of the 97 voters, 81 had already filled Form 6 for inclusion.

The commission also announced measures aimed at strengthening its internal functioning. Agendas for all commission meetings will now be circulated in advance and minutes will be issued. It said directions issued by commissioners to officials would be meticulously complied with.

Deadline Extended
The deadline for filing claims and objections in Delhi under the SIR process was also extended to October 30, with the disposal target extended to November 30. In Maharashtra, the corresponding deadlines were extended to October 12 and November 10.

The controversy, however, has moved beyond questions of internal procedure. Opposition parties have cited the reported objections by Joshi and Sandhu to question the functioning of the Commission and have demanded Gyanesh Kumar’s ouster. The dispute has also become closely linked to the wider political battle over SIR, with Opposition parties demanding greater transparency from the poll panel.

The commission’s latest statement seeks to draw a distinction between internal deliberations and formal decisions, maintaining that its major decisions, including SIR, were taken collectively and unanimously.

Puducherry, Sep 26: The central government has ensured through several budget announcements, necessary support to industry to either start domestic manufacturing for the long run or immediately for the short run, source it from elsewhere and remove dependence on other countries, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said.

The government was incentivising those who want to get themselves out of this dependence and be able to produce in our country.

Speaking at an interactive session at the Bharat Shakti Pondy Lit Fest here on Friday, the Finance Minister said, “our export account would say that we are still not adequately exporting to China. But actually it is going to China. But it never gets accounted like that because it goes to Vietnam and from Vietnam it sort of crosses the road and goes to China.”

“It should technically be in my account of I am exporting to China. It doesn’t happen that way because and I will be blunt in saying this, it’s not going to be diplomatic, people are not going to like it. We don’t get market access for those goods which are of bulk value, both in quantity and also the value that we can realise out of it,” she said.

Noting that India doesn’t get the market access to China, she said whether it could be buffalo meat or pharmaceutical generic drugs both of which are bulk goods which they buy from India, but not directly. “They go via Vietnam, they go via somebody else. So, there are items on which we have done better in the export, though they constantly deny market access.”

India has taken a conscious call that for some items, capacity should be created within the country. “We may be importing them now. But sooner, you will find that there will be a complete shift. All the active pharmaceutical ingredients at one point in time, India was the leaders… gradually because of predatory pricing, we lost out on that game and we are not producing any. But now we’ve given incentives for people to restart,” she said.

She said industries could produce their own APIs or KPIs also, which are required for our bulk drug industry.

The opposition’s GDP number agenda had mala fide intent guiding it. “What hurts me more is to see them rejoice at what they perceive as India’s failure. This country, against all odds, the people of this country against all odds, are doing their best bit and India is growing as a result of that,” Sitharaman said.

On freebies and welfare schemes, Sitharaman said if a scheme is properly budgeted and financially sustainable, it shouldn’t be sensationalised or strictly categorised as a “freebie.” However, she warned against the dangers of unplanned welfare, noting that allocating 80 percent of tax collections to committed expenditures leaves only 20 percent for vital capital investments like schools and hospitals.

While discussing the financial strain of unplanned freebies, she cited an example of a previously revenue-surplus state that fell into a revenue deficit within three years. She noted that such states then seek to borrow beyond the established ceiling of 3 percnet of their Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) just to run the government.

Addressing concerns around digital payments, she clarified that the proposed Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) on UPI transactions is not a tax, cess or surcharge, and it does not go into the government’s tax kitty. She assured that the MDR is strictly a fee between the merchant and the service provider and will not be passed on to the consumer.