Mohinder Verma
JAMMU, Aug 25: About 110 fresh applications seeking creation of new administrative units have been received by the nodal officer appointed by the General Administration Department and the fate of these demands would be decided in the 2nd meeting of the Cabinet Sub-Committee likely to be convened shortly.
Official sources told EXCELSIOR that Additional Secretary in the Personal Section of Deputy Chief Minister, Tara Chand, has received around 110 fresh applications regarding creation of new administrative units during the period stipulated by the General Administration Department in its public notice issued on July 31, 2013.
All these applications were then forwarded to the Revenue Department for scrutiny in the light of recommendations already made by the committee headed by retired IAS officer Mushtaq Ahmed Ganaie. “At present Revenue Department is in the process of listing of the applications district wise and will place the same before the Cabinet Sub-Committee in its second meeting which is likely shortly”, sources said.
Not ruling out the possibility of a number of fresh applications having been considered in the recommendations already made by the Mushtaq Ahmed Ganaie-headed committee, sources said, “this aspect is also being analyzed by the Revenue Department so that a comprehensive picture vis-à-vis new applications is placed before the Cabinet Sub-Committee. As far as new demands are concerned, the Cabinet Sub-Committee will have to evolve the criteria for consideration along with already recommended by Ganaie Committee”.
In response to a question, sources said, “majority of the applications pertain to creation of tehsils, CD blocks and Niabats while as in several applications the demand has been raised vis-à-vis location of the headquarters of the new administrative units”. In this regard, sources pointed out that from the Pahalgam area two different suggestions have been received from the MLAs on one administrative unit.
“Maximum of these 110 applications have been sent by the sitting and former legislators and the possibility of demand of present or former public representative about the administrative units in a particular area differing from each other cannot be ruled out and such applications will have to be dealt with by the Cabinet Sub-Committee very cautiously”, sources said.
When contacted, Deputy Chief Minister, Tara Chand, who is the Chairman of the Cabinet Sub-Committee said, “since the process of receiving suggestions/demands vis-à-vis creation of new administrative units has been completed, the Committee will meet shortly to decide the fate of these applications”.
It is pertinent to mention here that Mushtaq Ahmed Ganaie committee has recommended creation of 23 Sub-Divisions, 57 Tehsils, 63 CD blocks, 79 Niabats and 733 Patwar Halqas besides rationalization/reorganization of various existing Administrative Units.
The report of the committee was placed before the Cabinet in its meeting held on July 24, 2013 and the Cabinet ordered for constitution of a Cabinet Sub-Committee under the chairmanship of DyCM for the examination of demands for the creation of new administrative units and to take on board any fresh demand on this account.
The members of the Cabinet Sub-Committee are Minister for Urban Development and Urban Local Bodies, Nawang Rigjin Jora, Minister for PHE, Irrigation and Flood Control, Sham Lal Sharma, Minister for Agriculture Production, Ghulam Hassan Mir, Minister for Higher Education, Mohd Akbar Lone, Minister for Planning, Ajay Kumar Sadhotra and Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, Saifullah Mir.
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