news details |
|
|
| Fails to get JK on top of country's corrupt States | | 4 CMs and their `Saga of corruption' | |
Vijay Gupta
Jammu, Dec 17: A few weeks ago India Today Conclave conferred upon Jammu Kashmir 'the number one state' status in the field of health care in India. This news, not surprisingly, was received with loud jeers and sneers from both skeptics and non skeptics alike. Even health officials' labored smile unbeknown to them turned into a smirk. The government otherwise, most visible in the local tabloids strangely felt shy of taking any credit for this (non-existent) achievement. All this gives credence to a general belief that a little push from the all -powerful Union Health Minister, Ghulam Nabi Azad, has helped a lowly placed J&K pip to the post a much deserving neighboring State of Himachal Pardesh.
But all this does not matter. What matters most is the status Jammu Kashmir deserves most but surprising is not getting - the status of 'number one corrupt state' in India.
Ever since militancy subsided a bit and a relatively long spell of Governor' rule came to an end, the State has seen four Chief Ministers. All of them though in varied degrees have contributed in making State's case strong for the coveted distinction.
In the 1996-2002 during a single party rule of Dr. Farooq Abdullah the 'Corrupts' were most tentative. A duo of powerful bureaucrats close to the CM kept most of the ministers and officials on the leash. The malaise was there but it had not become endemic.
The same can be said of Mufti Mohammed Sayeed's government. Mufti's creation - State Accountability Commission was indeed a big damper for the Corrupt. Although many a senior Congress ministers seemed to enjoy a sort of immunity. Ironically the man (a suspended and later dismissed senior official) allegedly responsible for decimating Mufti's creation, the SAC, was inducted into PDP by Mufti.
And then 'entered the dragon' (expression purely figurative - no malice intended). In November, 2005, Ghulam Nabi Azad took over as Chief Minister of this State. He, before emplaning for Jammu, sounded an alarm bell for the Corrupt of the state... He kept on ringing this alarm bell for the first few months of his less than three year term as CM. His incessant rant against corruption rattled many Corrupt. As a result - verbal orders could not be confirmed; supply orders already placed were kept on hold and works got stalled. So much so many department heads helplessly let their much sought after funds get lapsed in the last quarter of financial year 2005-2006. No department head was prepared to stick his /her neck out - such was the terror. Ostensibly with a view to setting an example Ghulam Nabi Azad even suspended a top and influential official of Tourism department. However, within a few months, thereafter, an under current of déjà vu began to sweep across the State for the corrupt and in no time they (Corrupt) doubled the take. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
