Udhampur, 12-12-2022: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) held a massive rally in Udhampur Town comprising several hundreds of Party workers under the leadership of Mr. Harsh Dev Singh Former Minister, Chairman AAP J&K SCC and senior AAP leader against the govt failure in ensuring even the basic civic amenities to the people of District Udhampur. The protestors assembled in the Mini Stadium Udhampur in the morning and took out a massive procession in the town which started from Jal Shakti Deptt office and after passing through, PMGSY office Municipal Council office, Power Deptt office, main bazaar, Rural Dev office culminated at DC office where a memorandum was submitted pointing towards various acts of omission and commission being committed in various govt Deptts in the District with impunity. The angry protestors alleged that the local administration was acting as mute spectator in the wake of multiple acts of misfeasance, malfeasance and corruption which had triggered massive resentment in the District including both urban and rural areas.
Mr. Harsh Dev Singh while speaking to media persons, said that acute mess prevailed in almost all Deptts in the District and particularly in PMGSY, Jal Shakti, Power Deptt, Education, Local Bodies, RDD, Revenue Deptt, NHAI etc with none to listen to the shrill cries of the public for provision and even restoration of essential services. Pointing towards the acute drinking water problems in town as well as rural areas, Mr. Singh said that all tall claims of govt of providing ‘Har ghar nal’ had proved to be a cruel joke with people forced to fetch water from bowlis, wells, talabs and nallahs. He said ‘Jal Jeevan Mission’ so loudly trumpeted for the last 4 years had failed to take off and even the routine works had come to a standstill. Where was the money earmarked under District Plan, State Plan, NRDWSP, NABARD etc going was a million dollar question with none to answer the aggrieved public protesting on roads on day to day basis.
Charging the corrupt elements in the system of having diverted and siphoned funds meant for compensation for lands and houses acquired for PMGSY roads, Mr. Singh regretted that even the funds released by GoI during the last 8-10 years had not been disbursed to the affected land and house owners. He said that the details of many such cases with proofs of compensation funds having been released by the govt in 2012 and thereafter had been provided by him to Deputy Commissioner and other officers who had failed to act against the delinquent officers who withheld the money due to the poor land and house owners which constituted an offence of grave nature and which needed due cognizance of authorities concerned for initiating criminal proceedings against the culprits. Likewise the compensation for crop loss to farmers had been released last year by the govt but had not been disbursed to affected farmers till date. He further pointed towards the shabby plight of roads under PMGSY and NHAI adding further that payments due to labourers and mates had been inordinately delayed by the executing agencies of the said deptts. He further accused the NHAI of dismantling and removing private structures and shops of traders and other house owners on pick and choose basis. Mr. Singh said that Udhampur City had been converted into a dustbin with hillocks of garbage raised in various parts much to the discomfiture and annoyance of the inhabitants therein. He further stated in the memorandum that payments under MGNREGA and ‘Saubhagya’ scheme of rural electrification were also pending for the last several years with concerned authorities maintaining a criminal silence over the payment of wages to labourers for works executed under the said schemes.
Pointing towards the chronic shortage of teachers in rural areas of District Udhampur, Mr. Singh observed that education was the biggest casualty of the criminal apathy of the helmsmen which had largely paralysed academic activity in the educational institutions in the far-flung areas. He called for proper rationalization of staff and lifting of ban on teachers’ recruitment so that careers of rural students could be saved.
Prominent among those who spoke on the occasion included Mrs. Manju Singh, Mrs. Ashri Devi DDC, Raj Kapoor, Des Raj BDC Chairman, Dharam Singh Bittu, Rampaul Bhagat, Col.(rtd) Som Raj Sharma, Ravi Shastri, Varun Bhagat and around two dozen Sarpanchs including Sudesh Kumar, Pawan Sharma, Karnail Singh, Uttam Singh, Devinder Singh, Sugriv, Sunita Devi besides others.
