Contesting the claims of the visiting Union Ministers that development projects got pace after re-organization of the state, Mr. Harsh Dev Singh JKNPP Chairman and former Minister today said that Jammu region in particular has continued to face neglect and deprivation even at the hands of the present dispensation. He however added that the statement of Union MOS in PMO, Dr. Jitendra Singh needed full endorsement wherein he had said that “several development projects remained in limbo in the previous political dispensation due to the indifferent attitude of the then govt”. Harsh said that he was fully convinced with Dr. Jitendra Singh’s view point that previous govt in the state was “so unconcerned about the development of erstwhile state and its people that works which were going on were also stopped”. An honest admission of the failure of the erstwhile BJP-PDP regime on development front by the Union Minister has spilled the beans and exposed the local BJP leaders for their haughty, supercilious claims, asserted Mr. Singh. Dr. Jitendra’s confession should be an eye opener for the narcissistically pleased saffron leaders who were patting their own backs over the issues of development in the previous regime, said Singh.
Countering further the claims of the central leaders of having empowered the Panchayats in the new UT, Mr. Singh said that 73rd and 74th amendments of the constitution continued to elude the local bodies and had remained a distant dream. “People have had enough of assurances on the subject from various dignitaries which however remained confined to lip service. People had expected formal orders for extension of the aforesaid provisions to the J&K Panchayati Raj institutions which have not been issued with central Ministers still making vague, nauseating statements even during the ongoing public outreach programme. Besides the newly constituted BDCs have also remained active on papers only. The chairmen of the BDCs have neither been conferred with requisite powers and authority and nor are they being honoured by Block level offers who are contemptuously treating them as their arch rivals in the power apparatus of the current regime”, lamented Mr. Singh.
On development front, Mr. Harsh Dev invited the attention of the central Ministers towards the pathetic plight of the Tawi Artificial Lake project which continued to face govt apathy and neglect. “Similar was the fate of Mubarak Mandi project, General Bus stand multi level car parking and commercial complex for whose completion two years time frame was fixed by Omar Abdullah Govt at the time of its launch. Similar was the fate of double laning of Lakhanpur-Thein Dam road upto Ranjit Sagar Dam which was also sanctioned during Congress-NC rule. The frequent announcements over early commissioning of Mubarak Mandi, Bage-e-Bahu cable car project have also proved a farce thus exposing bureaucratic red tape at its worst. The widening work of Jammu-Akhnoor road has been moving at a snail’s pace causing huge inconvenience to the commuters and general public”, divulged Singh.
Seeking restoration of democracy in the state, Mr. Singh said that a remote controlled system of governance was not the solution to the woes and sufferings of the people of J&K. “The UT needed to have its own political govt. It’s the local politicians and local Ministers/MLAs who could better address the concerns of their people and bail them out from their sufferings and pains”, maintained Singh.