NC terms autonomy only solution, VHP’s concern over increasing discrimination with Jammu

*Cong for constitutional mechanism
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Sept 12: Various delegations comprising of political parties, social organizations, trade bodies and displaced people from Pak Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (POJK) called on Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on the second day of his visit here today.
The delegation of National Conference (NC) which called on Singh under the leadership of its provincial president and MLA Nagrota Devender Singh Rana informed him that regional autonomy to Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh is a way forward to satiate aspirations of the people of three regions of the State.
“We strongly believe that autonomy to Jammu and Kashmir and regional autonomy to the three regions with autonomous administrative structures for sub regions on the pattern of Ladakh Hill Development Council can defeat the nefarious designs of the forces , who want trifurcation of the Sate for their petty political interests” , Rana told Singh.
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He said NC will support every move, aimed at bringing peace in the State, provided such moves take care of special status of the State and unique identity of its people. He also expressed satisfaction over assurance of the Union Home Minister on Article 35A, hoping that this will be reflected by sincerity with which the Government of India will defend the case in the Supreme Court of India.
“The Attorney General of India must be asked to submit a forceful counter in the Apex Court to safeguard the Article 35 A which is endorsement of the law enacted by Maharaja Hari Singh 90 years ago” Rana said, adding that the assurance by the Home Minister is actually the appreciation of the concerns of the people of Jammu , Kashmir and Ladakh which they demonstrated vehemently and unequivocally after irresponsible statements coming from certain responsible quarters in the ruling party at the Centre and in the State.
The delegation comprised of former Ministers Surjit Singh Salathia, Ajay Kumar Sadhotra, Abdul Gani Malik, Mushtaq Ahmed Bukhari, Babu Rampal, Khalid Najeeb Suharwardhy, Jagjeevan Lal, former MP Sheikh Abdul Rehman, MLA, Dr Kamal Arora, former Legislators Ratan Lal Gupta, Kashmira Singh, Th Rachpal Singh, Ajaz Jan, Vijay Bakaya, etc.  A delegation of senior leaders of JKPCC also called on the Union Home Minister and expressed deep concern over the overall security scenario and political atmosphere of uncertainty, confusion and contradictions on various sensitive and contentious issues especially due to divergent and contradictory statements and stands of two ruling parties. The delegation demanded constitutional mechanism to ensure equitable share to region.
The delegation was led by PCC senior vice president Sham Lal Sharma and it comprised CLP Leader N. Rigzin Jora, Dy. Leader Aijaz Ahmed Khan, vice presidents  G.M. Saroori-MLA,  Mula Ram,  Raman Bhalla, former Ministers R.S. Chib, Jugal Kishore, chief spokesperson Ravinder Sharma, Naresh Gupta and Th. Balbir Singh-MLCs.
It said the mistrust, gap and regional imbalance on various fronts have widened between the regions and BJP has failed in its delivery on slogans of equality, equitable development and equal treatment as well share in the political, economic and other spheres of life. There, is growing discontent among the people of Jammu Region over the role and failures of BJP while in power especially on issues and commitments while in opposition. The discrimination in recruitments and allocations of posts to the  region even to the level of SPOs has been cause of concern, it added.
The Congress delegation suggested devolution and decentralization of powers and evolving a Constitutional mechanism to fully guarantee equitable share and treatment to three regions and to ensure that no injustice is caused to any region, Sub-region or part of the state. The delegation highlighted the issue of border residents and victims of firing by  fulfilling the commitment of 5 marla plots and other benefits as was done to Chhamb area residents during UPA Government and demanded extending monetary benefits and proper rehabilitation of the Nowshera border migrants.
The delegation reminded the issues of 1947, 1965 and 1971 refugees and DPs including the commitments of BJP to  West Pakistan refugees and financial assistance of Rs.30 Lac per family to PoK DPs but instead of sanctioning full package of 25lac per family as recommended by Congress-NC Govt., even there is delay in disbursement of Rs.5 lakh per family due to mismanagement and Cumbersome process.
The delegation of JKNPP, which called on Union Home Minister under the leadership of former Minister and chairman of the Party Harsh Dev Singh and submitted a memorandum to him highlighting the grievances of people of Jammu region in particular sought equitable treatment for the highly deprived and neglected Dogra land.
The memorandum while hailing the sincere endeavours made by Home Minister for restoration of peace and normalcy in the State, the Party offered its full support in all such initiatives so that peace returns to the trouble-torn State at the earliest. While condemning the violence in all forms, the JKNPP called for honest appraisal of the factors that have led to deterioration of law and order, breakdown of administrative machinery and collapse of socio-politico Constitutional system in the State.
The memorandum further said that the party feels that lack of political will, disregard for the public sentiment, betrayal of people’s aspirations by BJP -PDP, coupled with burgeoning corruption, maladministration, utter lack of accountability and transparency have created a situation which can at best be described as Constitutional failure within the meaning and scope of Section 92 of the State Constitution calling for imposition of Governor’s rule in the State.
The varied issues facing the people of the State including the problems of PoJK refugees, Jammu migrants, industries, worsening power scenario etc were highlighted in the memorandum. The other members of the delegation included Balwant Singh Mankotia, Yash Paul Kundal, Anita Thakur, Manju Singh, Rajesh Padgotra, Gagan Partap Singh, Parshotam Parihar, Paramjit Marshall, Shanker Singh Chib and Rash Paul Singh.
VHP delegation led by its State president Leela Karan Sharma also called on Union Home Minister here, today and demanded immediate deportation of Rohingyas from Jammu region whose stay in this part of the State is inimical to peace and tranquility.
The delegation while turning the attention of Home Minister towards the situation created by Rohingyas in Jaipur Rajasthan with support of some locals said that they can foment trouble here too as J&K is a Muslim majority State and the Jammu region is the only stumbling block to separatists and Islamic organizations trying to convert the State into a Muslim State with the support of Pakistan.
The memorandum, while turning the attention of Home Minister towards the discrimination to which Jammu region and its youth are still subjected cited the recent example of making selections to the 12 posts of judicial officers (Munsifs) out of which 10 are Muslims and only two are Hindus. Among them one belongs to reserved category and his appointment is a Constitutional requirement while the other is the daughter of a Cabinet Minister, it added.
The delegation said a feeling has been created among the people of Jammu region that the discrimination with them has increased manifold during the present dispensation than the previous one. Nothing has been done so far in respect of settlement of West Pak refugees and Article 35 A imported in the Constitution by fraudulent means as it has caused extensive damage to the people of Jammu and deprived the citizens of India of their fundamental rights, including West Pak refugees, Gorkhas who have fought many wars for the State during the reign of then Maharajas, Valmikis who were brought in J&K in 1957 because of the strike of the sweepers are the worst sufferers. The delegation while taking the State Government to task said that the so-called development about which tall claims have been made is no where visible on the surface in Jammu region and the people of this region feel that they have been deceived. It sought immediate intervention of Union Government asking it to take corrective measures to address the grievances of Jammu people.
The other members of delegation included Shakti Dutt Sharma, Surinder Mohan Aggarwal, Karan Singh Charak and Sudershan Khajuria.
The delegation of Federation of Industries led by Rajesh Jain its chairman also called on Singh and apprised him the difficulties being faced by the industries in the State which have been aggravated by GST regime.
The delegation said that the partial extension of fiscal incentives is only confined to the industrial units which are registered under the Central Excise as on June 30 this year whereas no relief has been given to the small scale industries exempted under Central Excise Act with a turnover upto Rs 1.5 crore prior to GST regime as well as unit under substantial expansion and new industrial units.
The delegation demanded withdrawal of 100 percent Income Tax exemption for industrial units for 10 years for all old and existing units. It demanded establishment of a Public Sector Undertaking like rail coach factory, sugar mill, fertilizer plants, defense production unit, automobile sector etc in J&K.
National Mazdoor Conference (NMC) president Subash Shastri who also submitted a memorandum to Union Home Minister  demanding funding to State Government for the release of arrears etc in one go after the implementation of Seventh Pay Commission, regularization of daily wagers engaged upto  2017, hike in daily rate of workers from Rs 150 to Rs 350 per day etc.
A joint delegation of all organizations of DPs of 1947, 1965 and 1971 of PoJK refugees including Jammu Kashmir Sharnarthi Action Committee represented by Gurdev Sing its president , MJR 1947 led by J S Sudan and Suchwant Singh  called on Union Home Minister and apprised him of burning issues and demanded full and final rehabilitation particularly relief compensation for their left out properties and employment package, reservation for their wards in technical institutions and sorting out of their problems in a time frame manner.
They demanded rehabilitation of DPs of all categories, compensation for their left out properties, employment package of their wards in State and Central Government services, non inclusion of 5,3000 bonafide DP families in the instant package settled outside the State. It also showed concern over delay in disbursement of the instant package of Rs 5.5 lakh.
A joint delegation of All Jammu Civil Society Forum (AJCSF) under the aegis of Dogra Sadar Sabha led by former Minister Th Gulchain Singh Charak and president DSS called on Singh and presented a memorandum to him.
Charak informed Home Minister that such visits have become ritualistic and lead nowhere. He also reminded the Union HM that the memorandum presented to him in 2016 when he led the All Party Parliamentary delegation and even its follow up has achieve nothing.
The delegation highlighted worsening situation in Kashmir, rampant discrimination with Jammu region and inaction and inaccessibility of the present dispensation to common citizens of Jammu. Charak who was also accompanied by Maj Gen (retd) Goverdhan Singh Jamwal highlighted various hardships faced by people of Jammu region and ex-servicemen fraternity.
A delegation of Chhamb Displaced Persons Association also called on Union Home Minister and demanded payment of Rs 25 lakh to each family as a one time settlement, reservation in professional colleges outside J&K, reservation in jobs in Para-military forces, Army and other Central Government Departments, inclusion of left out DP families for assistance. The delegation was led by president of the Association S R Nagial.
A delegation of university teachers from the University of Jammu and Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Jammu (SKUAST Jammu) met the Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and apprised him about the important issues concerning higher education in the Jammu region and other socio-political issues.
The delegation requested the Home Minister for the reservation of seats in professional colleges within and outside J&K for wards of West Pak Refugees and migrants from PoJK who are facing harsh conditions and feel alienated, and thus there is an urgent need to extend the benefit of this reservation to them.
The intervention of the Home Minister was sought regarding nationalistic and educated youth of Jammu and Ladakh provinces who are facing gross discrimination in State Government with the result many of them are shifting to other states for seeking livelihood. The civil society of Jammu is extremely disturbed by the illegal settlement of Rohingyas and Bangladeshis in Jammu and Samba districts and the delegation sought their immediate deportation. The professors also expressed their anguish at the poor implementation of Centrally Sponsored Schemes in the State especially in the rural areas thereby increasing rural-urban disparities and resulting in to rural-urban migration. The ambitious Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana is suffering because of poor implementation.
The delay in implementation of 7th Pay Commission for university and college teachers was also highlighted by the delegates.
The Home Minister was also apprised about the SKUAST Jammu-the only Agriculture University in Jammu  being also a victim of apathy of the State Government with no scope of its expansion for the benefit of the region, and requested for making this University a Centrally Funded institution (Central Agriculture University)
The members of the delegation were Prof. Naresh Padha   Prof. Prakash Chand   Dr.Virender Kundal    from University of Jammu and Dr. Rajinder Peshin , Dr. Permendra Singh from SKUAST of Jammu.
A delegation of Jammu Restaurant & Bar Association led by Kuldeep Wahi its president also called on Union HM and demanded that the shrines, tourist spots, lakes and other tourist places of Jammu region be brought on pilgrimage and tourist map of the country, development of artificial lake on Tawi, intensification of work on Ropeway and Gandola Chair car between Mubarak Mandi and Mahamaya across Tawi bridge and putting up of rope ways from Patnitop to Kud. They also demanded that tourism which has been declared as industry be given the benefits at par with industry, the benefits of revival of tourist package announced by then Prime Minister in 2003 be extended to Jammu and Ladakh regions also as the same has been confined to Kashmir only and making Jammu as independent tourist destination. Ravi Mahajan and Dev Anand were other members of the delegation.
The delegation of Jammu Partyan Vikas Mandal led by its chairman Inderjit Khajuria also met the Union HM and apprised him about the problems being faced by tourism related traders. They also presented a memorandum to Union Minister demanding that immediate steps needed to be taken to redress the grievances of these traders.

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