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| Will new Govt end VIP culture from J&K ? | | No VIP lounges, no barricades, no beacons for helmsmen | | Early Times Report
Srinagar, Mar 2 : As the new government took over the reins of Jammu and Kashmir, people hope that this dispensation would end the VIP culture that has ruined JK.
It was ironic indeed to see that when former J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah tried to streamline the state's VIP list by excluding the legislators from such privileges, there was tremendous opposition. The miffed legislators, including NC MLAs, staged a walkout from the house. Probably, they too wanted the VIP treatment, they too wanted to be guarded by SPOs, they too wanted their kith and kith be provided the luxurious accommodations in and outside the state of Jammu and Kashmir. They wanted the servants to be paid by the government. They wanted the Cars with red beacons on the top and expenditure for the same be taken from the common tax payer. Early Times has in the past also reported threadbare that how the Omar led coalition ruined the state by strengthening the VIP culture in JK with ministers and legislators being accorded the mouth watering perks. The state during Omar Abdullah took a big leap over the Central Government and Members of Parliament (MPs) with the salaries fixed for every legislator is more than 30 thousand than the Lok Sabha members.
Besides hefty salaries, the Omar Abdullah government accorded attractive perks, free vehicles, security, medical allowance, housing allowance, travel allowance, housing loans, free accommodation, air, road travel, free electricity and drinking water the ministers and legislators . Now when the new government in the state has been formed amid much hopes and expectations, it remains to be seen by the common persons of the state, who pay their taxes in return of the services that are ought to be provided by the dispensation, that whether the VIP culture will be ended or be more projected in the days to come.
It remains to be seen that whether the Airports will have separate VIP lounges, whether the barricades will be put on roads to halt peoples' movement so that a minister could pass the road. It remains to be seen with much interest that whether a minister or the MLAs in J&K would jump out of the queue while commoners would be left in lurch. It has to be seen what measures the new government will take to soothe the blighted hearts of the people and to make them feel that it is their government as well.
Meanwhile, we stand witness that how the doors of the Secretariat would shut when the former chief minister Omar Abdullah used to enter in the office. The people clearly remember that nobody was allowed to move on roads here when Omar's cavalcade, with he himself driving, used to pass.
Will the new government follow Omar's suits? If it does, its fate would be no different from that of the previous government. State's known academician, Amitabh Matoo while commenting over the VIP culture said that If the new government is serious about making a change, they must outsource all transport, discontinue security except for those at "Z" level threats, and gradually stop providing official accommodation to all except cabinet ministers. The existing official accommodation is a huge resource that can generate huge revenues if it is reutilised or privatised.
Interestingly, in the past, Supreme Court took up the matter and tried clamping down on the lal batti culture in the country but without much success. In 2013, the SC bench hearing the petition on the use of red beacons noted: "What we have done in the last four decades would shock the most established political systems. The best example is the use of symbols of authority, including the red lights on the vehicles of public representatives from the lowest to the highest and civil servants of various cadres. The red lights symbolise power and the stark differentiation between those who are allowed to use them and the ones who are not. A large number of those using vehicles with red lights have no respect for the laws, and they treat the ordinary citizens with contempt. The use of red lights on the vehicles of public representatives and civil servants has perhaps no parallel in the world democracies." It clarified that only a few constitutional authorities in the country such as the President, Prime Minister, cabinet ministers, governors, the Chief Justice of India, Supreme Court judges and the heads of both houses of Parliament should have the VIP status.
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