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| One-year of NC-Cong rule | | `Era of broken promises and shattered hopes’ | |
EARLY TIMES REPORT
Jammu, Jan 7: Omar led coalition has completed one year in office. Apart from giving a new look to roads in Jammu and Srinagar cities, the coalition government has failed on all other fronts notwithstanding full page advertisements in most of the local dailies to the contrary. The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mahbooba Mufti holds similar views.
The much hyped employment package was unveiled by the Chief Minister on the 104 birth anniversary of Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah. The Chief Minister intends to address what he called a gigantic unemployment problem in a principled manner. However, the package, Sher-i-Kashmir Employment and Welfare Programme for Youth (SKEWPY) evoked mixed reaction. The unemployed youth rejected it as a cruel joke cracked by the Chief Minister in the name of voluntary service allowance.
The Voluntary Service Allowance envisages provision of Rs.500 to an unemployed youth with the qualification of matric per month while as it will be Rs. 550 for 10+2 unemployed youth, Rs.900 to a graduate, Rs.1100 to a post graduate and engineering and medical graduates and equivalent levels in the field of computer science, technology and education, Rs. 600 per month in respect of 10+2 with additional skill such as ITI and Rs.750 per month in case of eligible 10+2 persons with professional qualification equivalent to three year diploma from a recognized polytechnic institutions.
Chander Mohan a BA Final student told Early Times that the allowance was not sufficient. “I have to pay around Rs 500 to my mobile service provider. What difference shall Rs 750 make to me?”
Immediately after assuming office, the chief minister promised a clean administration. But at the end of the year he sums up the administration `Rotten to the roots’. Strangely enough Omar did not take any measures to put the derailed administration back on rails. How many corrupt officials were taken to task? What happened to dead wood in the administration? And, how can the Chief Minister provide a clean administration to his gullible subjects by watching things like a mute spectator? People want autonomy for vigilance organization to make it an effective tool against corruption. A retired bureaucrat says the head of the state has to exhibit will and determination to set the machinery into motion.
The Chief Minister also failed on the human rights front. Like his predecessors he ordered probes into abuses and that is it. Omar Abdullah’s government has been no different. If DNA fudging took place in Dr Farooq’s regime, forensic evidence was tampered in Shopian case. Omar failed to take action against the culprits. The hapless relatives of the two women of Shopian are awaiting justice. The Shopian incident caused a stir in the entire state. Forgetting the bitterness of Amarnath Land agitation, the Jammu University students and civil society members launched a signature campaign to express solidarity with the family of the victims. This was the only case where the people of the state joined hands and voiced their serious concern but the government remained un-moved. The president of Majlis-e-Mushawarat, a body that seeks justice for the Shopian women, has accused the Chief Minister of shielding the culprits. A Shopian lawyer called it an era of broken promises and shattered hopes.
Omar Abdullah promised the people that he will scrap Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA). But, this promise also could not be fulfilled. Omar could not tell the people that AFSPA was needed. His Law Minister, Ali Muhammad Sagar issued a statement saying AFSPA would remain in force until it is needed.
Omar saw a silver lining in the Justice Sagir report which has made a passing reference of autonomy. However, to his dismay, the Valley people did not give it a damn. Jammu people have vehemently opposed it while Ladakh people have simply ignored it. Where shall Omar celebrate?
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