Managing Committee Meeting of IRCS held
Governor N. N. Vohra, President, Indian Red Cross Society (IRCS), J&K, chaired the 174th
meeting of State Managing Committee (SMC) of IRCS, J&K, Branch here at the Raj Bhavan. Bali Bhagat,
Minister for Health and Medical Education, participated in the meeting.
Governor stressed the need for organising Red Cross Melas in each District, especially in Ladakh and
other tourist places in Kashmir, for generating funds for IRCS. It was also decided to install donation
boxes at Airports, Railway Stations and Hotels to collect donations for the noble cause of the IRCS and
Chief Secretary was asked to issue instructions regarding voluntary contributions from the Government
employees.
Governor reviewed the activities carried out by the Society during the last one year and stressed the
importance of imparting for First-Aid Training programmes on a extensive scale, particularly for
commercial drivers and Police recruits. He directed Chief Secretary to make the First Aid Training
compulsory for the issuance of driving licences to commercial drivers and ADGP, Police Headquarters,
was directed to institutionalize such training programmes for Police recruits in the Police Training
Schools, as this would help in saving precious lives in case of emergencies.
Governor suggested the need of institutionalisation of funds for the treatment of poor people who
suffer from terminal illnesses and emphasised need for arrangement of patient care facilities at Jammu
and Srinagar. Chief Secretary informed that MLAs can now spend upto Rs. 10.00 lacs out of their
Constituency Development Fund on the treatment of the poor suffering from threatening life diseases
and other serious illnesses. General Secretary, IRCS, was asked to prepare a Project Report for setting
up Blood Banks at District level, which will be pursued with the National Headquarters, IRCS, New Delhi.
Stressing the need to make Red Cross activities more meaningful, Governor emphasized that the need of
the hour is to build a large pool of volunteers for ensuring participation of people from the grass root
level. Principal Secretary, Education Department, was directed to involve CBSE Schools for enrolment of
students as JRC/YRC to increase the resource base for IRCS funds. All the Deputy Commissioners were
directed to create a conducive environment for mobilizing resources for the humanitarian activities of
the Society, including organization of more Red Cross Melas at the District level.
Governor directed the Commissioner Public Works (R&B) Department to urgently review construction of
Red Cross Bhavan at Srinagar and ensure that the building work commences without any delay. He was
also directed to get the existing building of Indian Red Cross Society, Kashmir, made functional on urgent
basis.
The Policy framed for the conferment of awards to Volunteers was confirmed by the SMC. Accordingly,
General Secretary IRCS, was directed to identify Red Cross Volunteers who deserve awards for their
humanitarian services, for their cases being viewed by the Committee set up to recommend Awards.
Governor directed Hony General Secy IRCS, to bring out an annual calendar for the training of State and
District Disaster Response Teams. He also stressed that the District Committees should be well-equipped
for dealing with any type of disaster. Divisional Commissioners were also directed to make available
proper space for storage of relief materials received from IRCS, National Headquarters, New Delhi, and
other organisations. Stores should be located at such places so that during disasters these could be used
properly managed efficiently for making their best use during disasters. Divisional Commissioners shall
review the availability of relief materials in the districts for dealing with any exigencies in future.
While reviewing the present status of the Jan Aushadi Scheme, the Committee stressed the need to
create wide spread awareness about the availability of generic drugs at fixed prices from the Jan
Aushadi Generic Drug Stores which are being run by the Red Cross in the State. The medicines made
available in these stores are at the rates prescribed by the Bureau of Pharma Public Sector Undertakings
of India which in most cases are significantly lower than the market rates of branded medicines. SMC
directed the Deputy Commissioners of all the districts to open Jan Aushadi Shops at District and Sub-
District Hospitals.
Honorary General Secretary IRCS, informed SMC about the programmes and initiatives for the Financial
Year 2016-17, including the Safer Access Framework (SAF) to increase access of volunteers to people in
need of humanitarian assistance; Youth Project which is intended to increase the knowledge of First Aid
among the students, particularly females, by training them in the basics of First Aid and also to increase
awareness and address the water, sanitation and personal hygiene issues in two selected villages from
two districts of the State. J&K State Branch has also started training workers in different departments
with special focus on “First Aid at Workplace”.
B. R. Sharma, Chief Secretary, Umang Narula, Principal Secretary to the Governor, R.K Goyal, Principal
Secretary, Home, Shaleen Kabra, Principal Secretary Education, Navin K. Chouhary,
Commissioner/Secretary Finance, Dr. Pawan Kotwal, Divisional Commissioner, Jammu, Rohit Kansal,
Commissioner/Secretary PWD, V. K. Singh, ADGP, HQ J&K, Maj. Gen. Rakesh Kumar, MG Med, Ram
Avtar, IG, BSF Jammu, Sheetal Nanda, Deputy Commissioner Samba; Neeraj Kumar, Deputy
Commissioner Udhampur; Ramesh Kumar, Deputy Commissioner Kathua, Ravinder Kumar, Deputy
Commissioner Reasi; Shri Mohammad Haroon Malik, Deputy Commissioner, Poonch; Anuradha Gupta,
Deputy Commissioner, Jammu; Prof. Nusrat Andrabi; A.M. Mir, Prof. Mohd. Abdullah Charoo, Prem
Gupta, Y.V. Sharma and Ms Seema Shekhar Khajuria, Members of the State Managing Committee, IRCS
participated in the meeting.

Kashmir Correspondent cover all daily updates for the newspaper