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| House Committee on 'discrimination' with Kashmir | | Provoking Jammu | | Neha
JAMMU, Feb 23: The NC-Congress coalition government the other day took a step that has the potential of provoking the people of Jammu province to demand separation from Kashmir and have their own dispensation so that they look after them themselves and evolve policies that suit all the ten districts of the province and the people it houses.
The case in point is the constitution of House Committee of the alleged "discrimination'" with Kashmir, the richest, highly prosperous and most privileged region in the entire country, and the opposition of the BJP, the NPP and the JSM to the move. These parties protested against the government's move and staged a walkout. What prompted the NC and the Congress government to set up House Committee was the allegation of some Kashmiri legislators that the state government made unjust distinction between Jammu province and Kashmir while sanctioning health centres. They said that out of 600 health centres in the state only 200 were sanctioned for Kashmir and Jammu got the lion's share - 400 health centres. It is obvious that the concerned authorities had sanctioned new health centres taking into consideration the requirements of the people inhabiting the three regions of the state, and it could not be described as an arbitrary act. They must have taken into consideration the fact that the number of villages/households in Jammu province was more as compared to Kashmir, which is also inferior to Jammu province in terms of land area.
The land area of Jammu province is almost double that of Kashmir and bulk of the province is mountainous, difficult, underdeveloped and inaccessible. It is disturbing that certain Kashmir-based elements in the assembly raised a hue and cry without ascertaining the ground situation in Jammu province as well as its requirements and condemned the state government for what they called discriminatory policies towards the Kashmir Valley. But what was disturbing all the more was the manner in which the state government yielded and constituted House Committee on the issue, obviously, to undo the decision of the authorities. All this shows that there are elements in Kashmir who are biased against Jammu province and that the state government endorses their views to keep them on its right side. Ha the state government ever appointed a house committee to look into the allegations of the Jammu-based legislators that the authorities have all along denied the people of this province their legitimate due share? The answer perhaps is no. There are reasons to believe that the latest move of the state government would further embitter the already rather bitter elations between Jammu province and Kashmir region, with the protagonists of the state's reorganization making the constitution of House Committee a big issue. |
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