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| Time for Omar to set his house in order | | | Chief Minister,Omar Abdullah,is worried these days.He is upset. He is angry because the roar of the guns of the militants and the strategy adopted by the separatists in Kashmir have upset his plans of restoring peace to the state.He had plans of ensuring proper execution of various development projects in Jammu and Kashmir.All these plans seem to gave gone awry.The result is he is seen fuming ang fretting.In the process he has not been able to srike a balance in his statements and decisions.On one hand he is seen ridiculing the separatists and criticising militants for destabilising peace and for being instrumental for death and destruction on the other he has decided to send a report to the Union Home Ministry seeking its consent on the state Government plan to provide rehabilitation to the families of militants and the victims of insurgency.Omar seeking consent does not mean he is awaiting Chidambaram's verbal or written nod. He wants financial assistance, commonly called in kashmir as "Funduss",because whatever money is needed on relief and rehabilitation of the families of militants has to be spent by the centre as the state Government continues to be faced with financial stringency despite the fact that the current plan size has been fixed at Rs.6,000 crores which excludes Prime Minister's package of Rs.1270 crores.Omar cannot be faulted if he is upset because as the youngst Chief Minister he wanted to show results which could insulate him and his chair against any machinations from the Congress or the PDP.He does not want to function as Chief Minister for only six years but for many many years to come and this can be possible if during his current regime he is able to contain the activities of militants and the separatists. He can become indispensable if he is able to galvanise the Government agencies for implementing various development projects within the stipulated time. Indications are that he may not succeed on both fronts. With his campaign for the repeal of the AFSPA and the withdrawal of troops besides his repeated condemnation of security forces involved in human rights violations may not enthuse the security forces in carrying out result oriented operations against the militants. The problem with Omar is that he is trying to emulate the Muftis, leave aside his pleasure in criticising Mufti Sayeed and his daughter Mehbooba,on the issue of withdrawal of troops,repeal of the AFSPA and on human rights violations.As far as the Government's performance on the development is concerned the story is dismal.Though the annual plan has been finalised recently the Government has to spend over a month on the convening of the District Development Board meetings where the annual plans for each district was to be framed.This will be followed by the submission of the minutes of the meet ings to the respective chairmen of the Boards for approval.That would be sent to the civil secretariat and all this process may take minimum two months. When shall the work on the new development projects at the district,tehsil and the village level be started ?This is the question that seems to bother not only people but their representatives in the state Legislature.Experts say that a big gap between the plan finalisation and the start of the execution of the development works has been the main reason for the tardy utilisation of funds earmarked for each project.The limited working season is another handicap.These two factors have been responsible for poor utilisation of Rs.31,000 crore PM's package sanctioned in 2004.During the last five to six years not more than Rs.8,000 crores have been spent. Omar Abdullah cannot afford to ignore it.yes, his problem is that he listens to some bureaucrats and puny political activists instead of taking into confidence senior ministers of the stature of Abdul Rahim Rather, Mian Altaf,R.S.Chib and senior legislators belonging to the Congress and the National Conference.Time is slipping under his feet and if he continues to have adverse performance record Rahul Gandhi and Sachin Pilot may not be able to ensure Omar's survival as Chief Minister.
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