Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Jan 23: The Cabinet Sub Committee (CSC) on administrative units would hold a meeting with Chief Minister Omar Abdullah at 2.30 pm tomorrow ahead of the crucial Cabinet meeting, which is slated for 3.30 pm.
The CSC met for fourth consecutive day today for one and a half hours at 4 pm and completed discussions on about 3000 representations received from all 22 districts of three regions-Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh-of the State.
Official sources told the Excelsior that seven members CSC headed by Deputy Chief Minister Tara Chand would be meeting Omar at 2.30 pm just an hour before tomorrow’s Cabinet meeting and apprise him of the exhaustive exercise undertaken by the Panel in taking representations from all 22 districts by visiting most of them and scrutinizing them for the past four days.
“The Cabinet meeting, which would take place soon after the Chief Minister’s meeting with the CSC, would be crucial,” sources said.
The CSC would take a decision in its meeting at 2 pm tomorrow on how and when to submits its recommendations to the Chief Minister, who was very keen for an early report from the Committee before going ahead with setting up of new administrative units.
“There was one opinion in the CSC that it should submit recommendations of Bloeria Commission and Mushtaq Ahmad Ganai Commission along with 3000 odd fresh representations for new units received by it to the Chief Minister and allow him to take a decision on the setting up of new units.
“However, there was another opinion that the CSC should recommend the administrative units required to be set up based on the criterias adopted by it including population, area, distance and topography-separately for plain and hilly areas as per representations received by it apart from the units proposed by Bloeria Commission and Mushtaq Ahmad Ganai Commission,” sources said.
They added that the Committee would take a decision on how and when to submit recommendations in its meeting at 2 pm tomorrow and then meet the Chief Minister and apprise him of their deliberations.
Pointing out that tomorrow’s Cabinet meeting after the CSC members call to Chief Minister Omar Abdullah was going to be very crucial, sources said Omar was very keen on early decision of announcing the new administrative units.
There has been an opinion in top circles of the National Conference that the Congress wanted to delay report on new administrative units so that the Model Code of Conduct was imposed for Lok Sabha elections by the Election Commission of India and the Chief Minister couldn’t take an early decision on the units, sources said but added that the NC was determined to set up new units as early as possible.
Seven members CSC headed by Deputy Chief Minister Tara Chand comprised PHE, Irrigation and Flood Control Minister Sham Lal Sharma and Urban Development Minister Rigzin Jora, all Congress, Higher Education Minister Mohammad Akbar Lone, Planning and Development Minister Ajay Sadhotra and Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Saifullah Mir, all National Conference and Agriculture Minister GH Mir.
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