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| Leave AFSPA; revoke unbridled powers of departmental 'Inspectors' | | Hafta culture impinges more | | Early Times Report
JAMMU, Nov 22: Not Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) but commoners in Jammu and Kashmir have been demanding revocation of unbridled powers enjoyed by 'Inspectors' of various departments apart from police.
'Inspector Raj' hurts more is what the commoners are heard saying off and on. State government which is seemingly more worried about revocation of AFSPA has not even for once bothered to get survey done about properties and other assets, which officials supplementing the 'Inspector Raj' have created.
State government has not even once asked State Vigilance Organization (SVO) to probe assets which the inspectors working in various capacities in different departments have created over the last so many years. Ironically, state government often admits that it is facing monster of corruption and strong will is needed to fight this menace.
But, when it comes to taking practical steps for eradicating corruption, state government has done nothing substantial. 'Hafta culture' has gone to the roots of the departments where traders have to visit as a matter of routine. If not paid, traders maintain that they have to bear humiliation of all sorts. "Inspectors and other lower rung officials do not even listen to their superiors," recount the traders.
They lament that state government is worried about AFSPA but has been doing nothing to prevent corrupt lower rung officials from fleecing traders, industrialists and other private business houses of the state. One is reminded of the speech wherein it was said that country needs to get rid of the 'Inspector Raj' at the earliest. The man who said this was Prime Minister of our country Late Rajiv Gandhi.
However, the 'Inspector Raj' has flourished not only in Jammu and Kashmir but across the country. Recently, Bihar government confiscated property of a suspended treasury clerk facing trial for disproportionate assets (DA) case, lodged by the state vigilance unit. The clerk owned a two-storey palatial building besides having assets disproportionate to his known sources of income.
In J&K, palatial buildings of clerks, inspectors and other lower rung officials is not a big issue. Here, apart from having palatial houses in posh colonies of Jammu and Srinagar cities; they own luxury cars, land worth crores of rupees and also manage to get MBBS and Engineering seats for their sons and daughters.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah would give much needed healing touch to the people of Jammu and Kashmir if he stems the rot at the lowest levels in the departments where business community has to go on routine basis. He would give a healing touch to the business houses if a mechanism is devised to ensure 'Hafta' is not extracted by these inspectors and 'Oopar kee Kamai' vanishes.
The Hafta culture reminds one of the feudal system where a landlord would fleece the hapless farmer. Bringing such elements to justice should have been the top priority of the Chief Minister especially when a pledge was made to rid the society of such parasites. The difficulties in bringing erring men in uniform to justice are understandable but there is no law like AFSPA to shield officials involved in `white terror'. Will the Chief Minister do the needful. |
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