Sunday, March 20 2005 20:23 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: India has submitted to Pakistan a list of 40 people who had applied for travel in the first bus between Srinagar and Muzaffarabad on April seven but a similar list from the other side was awaited.

Highly placed sources said that Pakistan has refused to issue any travel form to the people, mostly militants, who have crossed over from Jammu and Kashmir to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir after the outbreak of militancy in 1990.

They said the first list comprises people from divided families mainly from Rajouri, Poonch and other bordering districts of Jammu and Kashmir. The bus would be flagged off by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh from Srinagar.

The list was decided on first-come-first serve basis and clearance from Pakistani authorities was awaited, the sources said, adding out of the 40 people, only 30 would be cleared in the first lot and the remaining would be put on the waiting list, to be accommodated in the second bus in May this year (2005).

The fare for the bus travel was put at Rs 750 one way and the passengers would be required to pay the two-way fare in advance.

Pakistani media reports said that there had been protests in Muzaffarabad, capital of PoK, on non-issuance of travel forms to people who went over there after 1990.

The sources said that the list from Pakistani side would be screened and the stay of people from that side in Jammu and Kashmir was likely not to stretch beyond 25 days with an exception in the case of a serious medical ailment.

The visiting PoK people would be allowed to travel to all districts of Jammu and Kashmir and in case a PoK resident could not be traced at the time of his return, the person whose reference was given in the form would be questioned, the sources said.

They said that this was an important measure to check anti-national activists from entering Jammu and Kashmir or misuse the bus service.

The Government had so far distributed 150 forms in Jammu and Kashmir out of which only 63 had been returned while the number in Pakistan was believed to be much higher.

The bus service has not generated much enthusiasm in Srinagar city or district headquarters but evoked good response in bordering towns where the divided families are stationed.

The sources said that all necessary measures had been taken to screen all Indian passengers upon their return from the PoK to guard against smuggling of drugs and fake Indian currency, a practice that was prevalent in the Samjauta Express train between Amritsar and Lahore.

Officials from the External and Home Ministries besides representatives from the Jammu and Kashmir Government, defence forces and security agencies are closely monitoring all aspects for the bus service.

The much-awaited decision to start the bus link in April was taken during the visit of External Affairs Minister K Natwar Singh to Pakistan in February this year.