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| Seeking power in the name of power is Omar's mantra | | | Early Times Report
Jammu, Dec 22: During the last six years Omar Abdullah led Government has been able,as the Chief Minister claims,to have launched projects that are to generate 1750 MWs of electricity. Most of these projects are yet to be commissioned. And Omar Abdullah has promised people that if he and his party were voted to power he would see to it that 9000 MWs of additional power was generated during the next six years.
Is it possible in the context of the limitations imposed by the Indus Water Treaty? Is it possible with weak resources and work culture in Jammu and Kashmir? Well Omar Abdullah's claim to add 9,000 MWs of electricity to the state's power kitty seems to be beyond one's imagination.
But Omar should not be blamed for making tall promises.Leaders of his ilk,whether in Jammu and Kashmir or in rest of India continue to make tall claims months before the Lok Sabha or the Assembly elections. All this is permissible within the poll framework.
People are well aware of the series of promises which different political parties make in their election manifestos. After the election is over people seldom ask the ruling party or the ruling coalition about their failure in fulfilling the basic promises made in the poll manifestos.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has sought another term for his party in office to "transform Jammu and Kashmir into a self-reliant state and end financial dependency on New Delhi".He is right when he says that Jammu and Kashmir is financially dependent on New Delhi due to the lack of own fiscal resources and the state has to beg for everything whenever it wants to undertake any development project. Claiming that the state remained dependent on New Delhi since 1947, the Chief Minister said his government has taken various "historic initiatives" during last five years in order to make the state self reliant and end financial dependency on the Centre.Reaffirming his mission to achieve energy sufficient Jammu and Kashmir,
Omar has stated that If people voted him and his party to power again, he will transform JK into a developed and financially self-reliant state. His vision to bring economic autonomy to J&K is linked with the harnessing of maximum of 20,000 MW hydro power potential available in the State and he has been working towards it since the day he took over as CM".He claims his government has laid the edifice in this regard and is firmly working on a roadmap to realize generation of 9000 MWs of power within next 7 to 8 years, while the total power generation in the State stood at 750 MWs per annum indigenously since the time of independence, his government has launched hydro power projects of the capacity of 1750 MWs during the last about five years
One thing needs to be cleared. It is one thing if one claims that 1750 MWs of electricity have been added to the total generation in the state during the last over five years and it is totally a different thing to claim that the Government has launched hydro power projects of the capacity of 1750 MWs.Energy starved state needs electricity and not feel satisfied with laying foundation for many power projects.
Here Omar Abdullah should be excused because if he has claimed that he would add 9,000 MWs of electricity during the next seven to eight years it cannot be treated something impossible.There have been politicians who,months before the elections,keep on promising moon to the people.One set of politicians promise to secure greater internal autonomy and another set want to resolve all the political and economic problems by enforcing self-rule, others promise to secure abrogation of Article 370,that grants special status to Jammu and Kashmir and yet another set of politicians promise to settle the Kashmir issue by promoting joint management on Kashmir.
Once the election is over, all such commitments and promises evaporate like vapour and people forget to indict those politicians who have failed to fulfill even one per cent of their promises.This way Omar is not to be blamed if he wants to retain power in the name of power generation. |
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