Leaving behind the heat and dust raised by fiercely pitted contestants during the six-week long Parliamentary elections, the nation is limping back to normalcy and returning to the serious task of development and progress. Right thinking people gifted with vision and foresight did not allow themselves to be carried adrift by the upsurges and public utterances of the contestants. The flow of events in the State of Jammu and Kashmir was particularly under their scanner owing to special political considerations and the turmoil that has engulfed the State for more than two decades in the past.
It is a matter of relief that surcharged emotions have not been allowed to create a wedge and that the urge of taking the State on the path of progress and development is as close to the heart of the Chief Minister of the State as the members of the 14th Finance Commission. Their appreciation of the achievements of Omar Abdullah Government indicates that they are convinced about the speed of development so far achieved and the prospects of further development in future appear to them very bright. The members of Commission are believed to have met various stakeholders like political leaders and other institutional heads to gather from them their viewpoint about the future prospect of the State. The Chief Minister has taken great pains to bring to the notice of the Commission all the achievements of his tenure in office so far. He has spoken at length about various steps taken to streamline the administration and strengthen democratic institutions. He has claimed to have upgraded laws related to eradicate corruption though he has not mentioned how many officers or officials of different ranks in the State administrative structure have been brought to book under various Acts enacted during his tenure. He has taken the credit of introducing panchayat elections after a gap of thirty years. This is apparently a vital instrument of strengthening democratic institutions in the state. No doubt many things remain to be done to really empower the panchayats in juridical and financial aspects, yet the very fact that elections have been held in the teeth of opposition by the separatists and secessionists is what cannot be underestimated. Of course, we know that many panchs and Sarpanchs have been eliminated by the militants either as a result of the agenda of militants or on account of personal rivalry and vendetta is a phenomenon that cannot be overlooked.
It should be reminded that the Union Government has always shown special interest in the development of the State. With the onset of militancy, no reduction in the development quantum was allowed to happen and the system of extending financial support to the State under annual plan or Five Year Plan was never curtailed. But the fact is that the State Government has not been able to implement all those Centrally sponsored schemes and projects in full. Most of the projects have been left incomplete half way for one reason or the other, most of these not convincing the common man. While we fully appreciate the Chief Minister asking the Commission to keep special conditions of the State in view and be frugal and large hearted in making allocations to the State for numerous developmental plans, we at the same time would have appreciated if the Commission had opened for discussion the reasons why the State invariably fails to keep the time schedule for bringing the projects to completion. The matter should have been discussed threadbare and remedy should have been found for overcoming this recurring obstruction. It has to be reminded that the State has lagged behind in many projects of vital importance to the people of the state. What often happens is that once a scheme is offered to the State by the Centre, it is invariably accompanied by a set of guidelines and instructions which have to be observed while implementing the scheme. Our experience is that invariably and in most of such projects, the State Government responds with a set of conditions, additions, alterations, concessions, time extensions, increase in project expenditures etc. etc. which makes the position of both the donor and the recipient very awkward. This culture needs to be changed and the State must look at all these projects from a wider perspective because these are meant not specifically for J&K only but for all the States of the Union.
The Government of J&K also needs to come out of the mindset of a victimized State afflicted by militancy. In the first place it is the Union Government which has been meeting almost entire expenditure on security arrangements. Even the Centre has been providing lavishly for the reorganization and modernization of police services in order to make police force capable of meeting the threat of militancy. What is needed is no excuse in implementing the projects and bringing these to completion in time. If the Government tries to find shelter behind victimization then the entire administrative structure will get a cue from it and follow the suit. This is a wrong direction and should be avoided. For some time in the past, the State Government has been insisting on return of a couple of big power generating plants to it and also the revenue that has accrued to it from the use of power. We do not find much strength in the argument that Rangarajan Committee had made the recommendation and therefore it is to be taken as the gospel truth. Such matters need to be addressed without emotions. The State Government must be convinced that the time is ripe to reverse a decision that had been taken three or four decades back in regard to power generation by the NHPC. A joint expert committee of the State and the Union Ministry of Power and Finance should be constituted to deliberate on this sensitive issue. The claim of producing 9000 MW of power in next seven years is a tall claim and keeping in mind the position of power we have been facing, there will be few takers for his fanciful ideas though everybody would like that we have electric power bonanza after decades of shortage of power.
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