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| Do population and number of villages in J&K call for new administrative units? | | | Early Times Report
Jammu, Feb 1: The ruling alliance of Congress and the National Conference face a conflict over the plan on setting up new administrative units in Jammu and Kashmir. Whether the two succeed in resolving the conflict or not is not as important as the question whether the state of the size of Jammu and Kashmir required new administrative units or not?
The issue is debatable. But those who call the Government's exercise on setting up new administrative units as poll politics do not seem to be wrong. It cannot be treated something that has no link with electoral politics or electoral gains on the plea that on the basis of the number of districts, tehsils and villages the state does not call for an addition of about 2,000 administrative units.
Jammu and Kashmir state has 22 districts, 82 sub-districts, 86 towns and 6552 villages for 1.26 crore people. Against this Rajasthan has 33 districts, 244 sub-districts, 44672 villages for 6.86 crore people.
If Jammu and Kashmir state has had to add eight new districts it was the outcome of former Chief Minister, Ghulam Nabi Azad's realization that the very gigantic area of the state demanded increased number of districts. Jammu and Kashmir has an area of over 2.22 lakh sq kms and there are 22 districts, whereas UP has an area of 2.43 lakh sq kms having 71 districts. As far as the number of villages and the number of districts and subdistricts are concerned Jammu and Kashmir has a better administrative setup than Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh.
Punjab has 20 districts, 77 sub-districts for 12581 villages, Haryana has 21 districts and 74 subdistricts for 6841 villages and Himachal has 12 districts and 117 subdistricts for 20690 villages.
And it would have been better for the NC led Government in Jammu and Kashmir to have favoured setting additional sub-districts instead of having opted for CD blocks and other smaller administrative units.
One has no other option but to agree with former Chief secretary Sheikh Ghulam Rasool, who has voiced concern over the exercise of the Government on setting up new administrative units. His plea is that the state has no resources to bear the heavy financial burden that is entailed to the setting up new administrative units. And if the Cabinet okays the subcommittee's report the state may have to spend about Rs. 1600 crores annually on these new units.
Hitherto the state has been banking on central financial assistance for its plan and non-plan sectors, including the wage bill of its employees. And the centre may have to reimburse additional funds to the tune of Rs. 1500 crores for ensuring survival of the new administrative units.
Will this entitle the National Conference for securing or for demanding restoration of internal autonomy? Certainly not. Let the NC leadership continue to campaign in favour of retention of Article 370 of the constitution of India that grants special status to the state which alone can confer to Farooq and Omar the status of a savior of state's people. Yes, the NC leadership is actually in favour of political autonomy. It is has no need to feel upset over growing financial dependence on the centre. |
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