Governor directs implementation of Action Plan for addressing disability issues in Arai village in Poonch district

JAMMU, FEBRUARY 7: Dr. (Prof.) Nirmal Gupta, Chairperson, J&K State Social Welfare Board, had recently met Governor N. N. Vohra and sought his help in dealing with the continuing adverse effect of a mysterious disease, possibly due to a chronic genetic disorder which is resulting in majority of the residents of village Arai in Mandi Tehsil of district Poonch being severely handicapped.
The symptoms of the disease start with joint pains and swelling of joints resulting in the person becoming handicapped. Efforts made earlier for diagnosing the causes of this disease had suggested a mysterious unidentified genetic disorder. Teams of experts from Jammu University and Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University had undertaken a genetic investigation of the disabled persons in village Arai and identified the disease as a very rare skelton disorder known as ‘Progressive Pseudorheumatoid Arthropathy of Childhood’, also known as ‘Spondyloepiphyseal Dysplasia Tarda with Progressive Arthropathy’, which is an autosomal recessive genetic disease. So far, 84 persons have been identified suffering from this disease in the village which has a population of around 2000. The main reason for spread of this disease has been identified as consanguineous marriages prevalent in this village.
After Dr. Gupta had met the Governor he directed the CEO of the Shrine Board to hold urgent consultations with Dr. M. K. Bhandari, Commissioner, Health and Medical Education, to plan the further course of action. After several meetings Dr. Bhandari has drawn up an Action Plan under which the Health Department will send a team of experts, including Counsellors, for spreading awareness among the villages of Arai and also identifying patients who would undergo surgical corrections, be provided prosthetic aids, palliative care etc etc
The Health Department will identify the patients who will undergo surgery and, with the help of J&K State Rehabilitation Centre, also identify the implements and prosthetic aids which could be provided to the affected persons to ease their day to day lives and, further, examine the modalities for providing palliative care to the disabled persons who cannot be given any other treatment. It has also been decided that experts in the Jammu University and Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University, will conduct DNA profiling of the targeted population of the village, especially persons in the marriageable age groups and advise them suitably.
The Deputy Commissioner Poonch will involve the local NGOs for organising regular awareness campaigns to educate the people that consanguineous marriages shall result in spreading the disease to the next generation.
Governor N.N. Vohra has asked Dr. Bhandari, Commissioner Health, and Mr. Sahu, CEO Shrine Board to send him monthly progress reports on the implementation of the Action Plan.
Education Department launches exclusive Career Information Portal
It will provide information on job openings, admissions, scholarships, entrance tests, other opportunities: Naeem Akhtar
JAMMU, FEBRUARY 7: As a part of its new initiative to provide guidance on career advancement and counseling to the students, the Education Department today launched an exclusive web portal with updated information on job openings, admissions, scholarships, entrance tests and other career opportunities for the youth within and outside the state.
The web portal was launched by Minister for Education, Mr Naeem Akhtar here this morning. Legislator, Syed Mohammad Altaf Bukhari, Principal Secretary School Education, Shalin Kabra, Commissioner Secretary Higher Education, Dr Asgar Hassan Samoon, State Project Director for RMSA/SSA, Saugat Biswas, Director School Education, Jammu, Ms Babila Rakwal and other officers of the Education Department were also present.
The career information portal – www.jkkn.co.in/cip.php – is available on Jammu and Kashmir Knowledge Network (JKKN) Website.
Speaking on the occasion, the Minister said that the new web portal will make available all the career related information to the youth including job opening, admissions, entrance tests, examinations, scholarships etc at single stop. “It will also provide easy access to notifications regarding various exams, government and other recruitments, important dates for filling up the forms and required syllabus for the given exams,” he said and added that most of the times the youth in remote areas and villages of the state don’t have access to such information. “They are either unaware or they miss important dates for filling up the forms,” he said.
The Minister said that information regarding various national and international fellowships, institutes which fund education abroad, foreign education opportunities, corporate sector job openings shall also be provided on this portal.
The Minister said that in its future endeavor, the Department would bring employers and employees together on this user-friendly platform. He said the website would offer the State’s youth an opportunity not only to find jobs suited to their interests and capabilities, but also create resumes, and submit applications online. “Once registered, the portal will keep them updated on the career opportunities and vacancies free of cost. Employers can readily access their resumes, find suitable candidates, and the portal will facilitate direct communication with them,” he said.
The website has been developed and designed by Vikrant Singh, from Doda, who is a part of JKKN team, which is headed by Mayur Khaire, Prime Minister’s Rural Development Fellow.