Coordination among various departments and agencies of the Government is the primary condition for balanced development. Apart from established norms and forms of coordination including instructions from higher authorities up to the level of the Chief Minister, there has to be a sense of responsibility and tender consciousness towards the development of the State and especially of the backward and remote regions. For hundreds of years our remote and far off regions remained neglected and the people in those regions have been eking out a miserable life. Under democratic dispensation, it has become the duty of the elected Government to reach all remote areas through their elected representative and expeditiously initiate developmental projects. It is not only Modi Government that has prioritized development of remote backward areas; it has been the policy of the Government of India and of the State to reach the backward pockets.
In this back ground, we are aware that the erstwhile Doda region is comparatively a backward area of the State like Ladakh and as such, special attention needs to be given to it. Apart from difficulties of overland access, the area is mountainous in which the speed of development slows down when compared with the regions in the plains. This apart, developmental activity has to be undertaken even if it is on a sluggish speed. Three important projects were sanctioned for Kishtwar region some years back. These included building a 100-bedded additional facility for District Hospital Kishtwar, a Degree College at Chhatro under the Prime Minister’s Reconstruction Programme (PMRP) and a Polytechnic in Kishtwar. All of these are prestigious projects which after completion would immensely benefit the people of the region.
All the three projects have been allotted to the JKPCC Ltd. the prime construction agency in the State. The foundation stone of Rs 19.50 crore project was laid by the Minister for Health and Medical Education Bali Bhagat on April 23, 2017 and it was announced that project will be completed by May 2020. Actually it took the Government three years to lay the foundation stone. There appears no movement at the site of the laying of foundation stone and one does not know why the JKPCC is not undertaking the work. It is a matter of despair that the poor and backward people of Kishtwar region are denied the healthcare facility for which they have to travel a long distance and go through ordeals to find treatment to their ailments.
As regards the construction of College building at Chhatroo, the project was announced with great fanfare in 2008. Till date the project has not been initiated and the college is run in a private building. Same is the fate of the Polytechnic for which land has already been acquired and funds are also available yet no interest is shown in undertaking the construction of the building. The Polytechnic is running in a rented accommodation where necessary facilities are not available.
Daily Excelsior is amused to find that despite stone laying ceremony and handing over the site to the JKPCC the agency has failed to initiate work on any one of the three projects. Why the DC has failed in using his powers and authority and thus has let the people of his district suffer remains a mystery. In this situation, we would suggest that the Government ask both the DC and the chief of JKPCC report why the projects could not be started in time when the facilities were available. This would help the Government understand where the bottleneck is.
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