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| Implement RPA to give proper representation to Jammu | | Empowering the de-empowered | | Rustam
JAMMU, Sept 9: The people of Jammu province have been discriminated against. Their political representation in the Assembly has been diluted due to the absence of delimitation based on the criteria laid down by the Representation of People's Act (RPA). Those at the helm have all along played with the census figures in order to ensure more than fifty per cent representation to Kashmir in the Assembly. The story of the 2001 census was no different. It has all through been the charge of the people of Jammu province that the "Kashmiri leaders always fudged the census figures with a view to harming their interests". They did not cross the line when they consistently complained during the days of agitation that "they are underrepresented in the Assembly" and asserted on occasions more than one that "it is this under-representation which is responsible for their all round neglect". They also made a valid point when they said that "it is the composition and complexion of the Assembly which shapes the politico-administrative and socio-economic policies of the state" and that the people of Jammu province must be given due share of representation in the Assembly.
It may be emphasized that the people of Jammu have been demanding since 1951 "due share in the Assembly strictly in accordance with the criteria laid down by the RPA - land area, voters/population and nature of terrain and accessibility".
The area of Jammu Province is 26,293 sq km. According to the 2002 voters list, there were 30, 59,986 voters in the Jammu province, whose terrain is also very difficult and treacherous. Bulk of the area of this province is inaccessible in the absence of proper road network. As for Kashmir, it has an area of 15,953 sq km. The number of voters in this province was 28, 83,550. As for the accessibility and communication network, Kashmir is very fortunate in terms of road connectivity and accessibility.
Till 2002, Jammu used to return two members to the Lok Sabha and 37 to the Assembly at the rate one per 15.59 lakh voters and 84,270 voters, respectively. In contrast, Kashmir had the privilege of returning three members to the Lok Sabha and 46 to the Assembly at the rate of one per 9.61 lakh voters and 62,673 voters, respectively. Kashmir had 46 Assembly segments at the rate of one per 344 sq km on an average and Jammu 37 Assembly segments at the rate of one per 710 sq km on an average. This is the root cause of conflict between Kashmir and Jammu. The people of Jammu province always complain that "it is the Kashmir's excessive share of representation in the Assembly which has deprived them of their legitimate due share in the state's political, economic and social processes".
It is universally acknowledged that more the population more the number of voters. In 2002, the number of voters in Kashmir was 28,83,550, which also included approximately 1.5 lakh Kashmiri Hindu and Kashmiri Sikh voters, who have been exercising their franchise in exile since 1990, when their communities were forced to quit Kashmir by fundamentalists. In Jammu, the number of voters was 30,59,986. That means Jammu had 1,76,436 more voters as compared to Kashmir. All these facts speak for themselves. It would be only appropriate and in the interest of democracy if the authorities look all these facts in the face and undertake steps aimed at empowering the de-empowered Jammu province. |
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