Srinagar, March 10: The Jammu and Kashmir National Conference on Thursday said the claims of GOI on bridging development deficit and creating employment opportunities in Jammu have rang hollow.
Saying that ‘good governance’ in J&K is “confined to papers only”, NC spokesperson Imran Nabi Dar said the ground situation belies all the claims of administration.
Pointing to the extensive window dressing by the J & K administration to hide its failures, Imran said people are suffering on different counts ranging from inflation, development deficit, rising unemployment, and administrative inertia. “Much touted 84,000 jobs for youth, infrastructure augmentation, incentivizing entrepreneurship, a comprehensive package for tourism, horticulture and handicraft sectors continues to remain a far-fetched dream,” he said.
Bureaucratic rule, Imran contended, has obstructed the development prospectus in the entire region. “Bureaucrats not being subjected to any kind of accountability, seem to care little about the issues concerning people in general,” he said.
He stated that the “unrelated bureaucracy” looks without seeing, listens without hearing, and proclaims decisions, changing people’s lives without taking cognizance of the wishes and aspirations of the people.
“The failure to give impetus to the infra-projects, ineptitude to cope up with the aftermaths of the rampaging two successive lockdowns post 5 August 2019 has badly exposed the failures of those managing J&K. We only saw officials change their stripes and do photo-ops. The over-centralization in Jammu and Kashmir is pushing one size for all kinds of measures with no consideration for people’s aspirations and demands,” he added.
Imran asserted that the escalating level of violence in J&K was alarming and contrary to the claims of peace. “We were told that peace will return to J&K. However, the situation on the ground completely belies that claim. In the last 24 hours, we witnessed two grenade blasts, one killing and an encounter at Hazratbal,” he added.
