Abrogation of Article 370 minimized contact between district, tehsil and block level officers of J&K and people of UT
Jammu: Former Dy Chief Minister J&K Tara Chand after resigning from Democratic Azad Party, today held first public meeting in Khour constituency to discuss future course of action including whether to form new political party or to join secular forces . A large number of Sarpanchs, Panchs and social / political activists were present in the meetingAddressing a huge public gathering, Tara Chand said admitted a large number of people belonging to different political and social organisation have approached him to support his decision and whatever decision to be taken by him for overall development of the Jammu and Kashmir.Tara Chand expressed his concern over the unemployment faced by youth, steep rise in prices of essential commodities and day today problems of the people, after the J&K state was brought down to the status a Union Territory. He said that he along with his colleagues are fully committed to serve the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
Chand, however, said they will remain secular till their last breath and would continue to serve people of J&K.“Many more leaders from J&K including former ministers and legislators from DAP and others are joining our group to strengthen the secular vote bank and work for the restoration of the people’s rights including the special status under Article 370 of the constitution and statehood.“Restoration of pre-August 5, 2019 status to Jammu and Kashmir is the popular demand of the people from both the regions of Jammu and Kashmir,” he said.He said a “big leader” is saying that it cannot be restored but “we want to tell him that nothing is impossible. It is the popular demand of both the regions and we appeal to the Prime Minister to accept this demand and restore our identity. He is the Prime Minister of the whole country and should hear the voices from J&K.” He asked Prime Minister to have a referendum on restoration of Article 370 and 35A and 99.5 percent will raise their hand in its favour and even supporter of BJP also want its restoration but due to party pressure not supporting it publically Chand said he had enjoyed good friendly relations with all parties as he did not consider any party “untouchable”.“We are secular and will die as a secular,” he said.
Chand further said that “The leaders inclined towards BJP or Congress or any other party should join any of these parties without hoodwinking the public. We have leaders here who are misleading the public and are dividing the secular votes to benefit one particular party,” he said.“We will not betray the public and we won’t play as an ‘A’ or ‘B’ team of any party. We will meet the public and after their consultation, will join a party which is secular and going to form the next government in Jammu and Kashmir,” he said.Hitting out at the central government on abrogation of Article 370 and extending various enactments to the J&K including halt of traditional century old ‘Durbar Move’, he said the people of Jammu and Kashmir are suffering since the scrapping of Article 370. “The abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution that granted special status to the erstwhile state seemed to have been carried out to rob Jammu & Kashmir of its resources, he said.
Chand claimed that since the abrogation of Article 370 and 35-A, only one thing has changed in the UT of J&K: the grievances of the people, especially those from the economically weaker sections of society, have increased. This is because a certain paradox came into play on August 5, 2019. Since the UT is ruled directly by the Union government rather than an elected state government, the people who are able to take their grievances to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), the Union ministries or even the office of J&K’s Lieutenant Governor (LG) get quick responses. But those who need the help of local bureaucrats and police officers get nothing but silence and corruption. According to people at the grassroots level, they do not get justice from tehsil, block and district offices, the corruption in police stations, tehsildar offices and municipalities has not reduced and the schemes instituted by the Union government, especially the national flagship schemes, are not implemented in a transparent manner.
Also, even if the PMO, the Union ministries and the civil secretariat offices in states and UTs are responsive to citizens, unless the local district or block officer is equally responsive, it cannot be said that the system of governance in practice is effective. But unfortunately, since Article 370 was read down, contact between the district, tehsil and block level officers of J&K and the people of the UT has been minimal. When J&K was a state with an elected government, political leaders and MLAs acted as bridges between the people and the bureaucracy. But now this bridge has collapsed, leading to chaos, confusion and constant fear. The policy of transferring officers from one place to another to prevent corruption seems to function without reason, added Chand.
Chand claimed that J&K needs drastic reforms when it comes to addressing issues of governance and political instability and the LG cannot do this alone. He will need the Government of India to show seriousness about making institutions of transparency and probity operational in J&K. A government cannot claim to provide good governance unless it is democratic. Only a democratically elected government can be made accountable, transparent, participatory and responsive. To create an effective system of governance, the government must ensure that the voices of the most vulnerable and disadvantaged communities of the country are heard, especially during decision-making processes. Unfortunately this is not happening at all, added Chand.
Prominent among those present on the occasion include Thakur Balwan Singh ex MLA, Sh Shamsher Singh Chib, Sh Bansi lal Sharma, Madan lal Sharma, Santosh Manhas, Asha Chandan, Shashi Sharma, Rajani Sharma, Chander Prabha, Jagattar Singh Manhas, Kali Das, Omprakash Sharma, Jagdish raj sharma, Dwarka Nath Sharma, Hansraj bhagat, Vipin Lachotra, Deep Bhagat, Avtar Singh Ex Sarpanch, Bachan Singh, Bachanlal, Tarsem Singh, Rajkumar Sharma, Davinder Singh Chib, Baldevraj sharma, Anudeep Sharma, Panches, Sarpanches and others.
