- ‘End of darbar practice saved Rs 400 cr annually’
- *36370 vacancies filled, 10000 more referred
Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, Aug 5: Union Home Minister Amit Shah said today that the abrogation of Article 370, which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir, has ushered in a new era of empowerment for the marginalised sections and strengthened grassroots democracy in the region.
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On fifth anniversary of Article 370 abrogation, the Government of India released two documents listing development works undertaken in J&K, empowerment of people, Constitutional changes benefitting the people and improvement in security situation with terror -related incidents going down drastically.
In a post on X, Shah said the region’s youth have driven socio-economic growth and cultural revival, making the Narendra Modi Government’s efforts to foster peace and comprehensive development a grand success.
“Today marks five years since the historic abrogation of Article370 and 35A under PM Narendra Modi’s leadership. This transformative decision has ushered in a new era of empowerment for marginalised sections and strengthened grassroots democracy in Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh,” he wrote.
The Home Minister, who tabled the bill in Parliament on August 5, 2019 for abrogation of Article 370 and Article 35A, also thanked the Prime Minister for this landmark decision and reaffirmed the dedication to advance the region’s aspirations and transformative progress.
One of the three documents said improving security and quality of life of the people of J&K is top priority of the Government.
It listed the steps taken for zero tolerance policy against terrorism as effective, continuous and sustained action, Zero Terror and Area Domination Plans, demolition of complete terror ecosystem, deradicalization efforts, crackdown on terror finance by seizing, attaching and freezing properties and accounts and banning anti-national organizations, multi-pronged strategy to prevent infiltration with multi-layered deployment, fencing and technology and monitoring of UAPA cases on daily basis.
“Entire ecosystem is now being targeted by the security. There has been special focus on modernization and strengthening of security equipment,” the document said.
Restrictions on public funeral of terrorists, removal of terror supporters from the Government jobs, action taken against terrorists in the Bar Council and making terror supporters unfit for Government jobs and contracts were among the restrictions imposed by the Government to curb terror glorification, the document read.
The Government described as positive outcomes of security measures the flow in arrival of tourists, functioning of schools, improvement in citizens’ life which led to increased income generation, conduct of G-20 tourism meeting, successful Shri Amarnath Ji yatra, allowing Moharram procession on traditional route, after 34 years and peaceful Lok Sabha polls with record voting.
Another document released today said Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh have received equal federal rights and end of `two darbar tradition’ has saved Rs 400 crore per year by having a single capital. All Central Administrative Officers have now been integrated with AGMUT cadre, it said.
With elections round-the-corner to J&K Assembly, the MHA said one-third of all elected seats have been reserved for women in the Assembly while provisions have been made for nomination of two members from displaced Kashmiri migrants, one of whom will be a woman, and one displaced person from PoJK. It added that reservations have also been given to OBCs in Panchayats and Municipalities.
“A target has been fixed for generation of 5000 MW electricity for the next five years. Last year, the peak demand of 2800 MW was met. 1000 MW Pakaldul hydro electric project is under consideration at the cost of Rs 8100 crore. Projects under construction include Ratle (Rs 5300 cr), Kwar (Rs 4500 cr) and Kiru (Rs 4300) cr among others,” the document said.
On industrial investments, it said 6851 investment proposals worth Rs 1.10 lakh crore have been received under Jammu and Kashmir Industrial Policy 2021-30.
As per the document, 36370 vacancies have been filled in the Government sector from August 2019 to 2024 while 10,000 posts have been referred to the recruitment agencies.
It said 69 pc reduction has been witnessed in terror incidents from May 2014 to July 2024 as compared to June 2004 to May 2014.
Similarly, there has been 67 percent decline in total deaths, 80 pc reduction in civilian deaths and 44 pc decline in security forces killed in action.
Organized stone pelting, organized strikes, death of civilians in stone pelting and injuries have gone down 100 percent.
It said Jammu and Kashmir has seen a complete stop in stone pelting incidents and strikes in the valley.
In 2023, no incidents of stone pelting or strikes were reported, showing a 100 per cent drop since 2010, when 2,654 incidents of stone pelting and 132 strikes were reported, the MHA data said.
It also said there was a 69 per cent decrease in terror incidents since the BJP government came to power in 2014.
Jammu and Kashmir had reported 7,217 incidents of terror during UPA government between June 2004 and May 2014, which claimed 2,829 lives of civilians and security personnel, while between June 2014 and July 31, 2024, it witnessed 2,263 terror incidents, in which 944 civilians and security forces lost their lives — which is a 69 per cent drop in terror incidents and 67 per cent dip in deaths due to them, it said.
During the UPA era, 1,060 security personnel had died in terror attacks while under the BJP government, there has been a 44 per cent decrease with 591 deaths, the data said.
Out of the 3,000 additional Government jobs, 2,720 appointments have been allocated to Kashmiri migrants, reconstruction of temples has been carried out and Diwali was celebrated at Mata Sharda Devi Temple in Kupwara after decades, the document said.
A total of 1.61 lakh domicile certificates have been issued and registration of 13,000 certificates is in progress, it added.
The Jammu and Kashmir Panchayat Raj Act, 1989 has been amended to establish District Development Councils (DDC) in each district and established a three-tier Panchayat Raj system in Jammu and Kashmir.
There was a 74 per cent voter turnout in the Panchayat elections which were conducted in November-December 2018.
A record 98 per cent turnout was registered in the Block Development Council (BDC) elections held in October 2019 and the DDC members were elected after polls were held in eight phases between November and December, 2020.
Gram Panchayat and municipal elections were scheduled to be held in November-December last year, but were delayed due to Delimitation Commission and OBC reservation issues.
A total of 34,260 public representatives are representing at the local level, including 4,026 sarpanch, 28,624 panch, 1,068 councillors, 264 BDC members and 278 DDC members.
Under the Prime Minister’s Development package, 63 projects worth Rs 80,000 crore were sanctioned and out of these, nine projects worth Rs 21,000 crore have been transferred to the Union Territory of Ladakh.
Out of the remaining 53 projects worth Rs 59,000 crore, 35 projects have been completed.
Out of the Rs 49,000 crore released for 53 projects, Rs 48,000 crore has been spent till June 2024, the sources said.
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