Merit shouldn’t be disregarded; hope CSC will do justice: NC
‘CM made poll commitments like pacer, delivering like spinner’
Bivek Mathur
JAMMU, Mar 18: Several legislators in Legislative Assembly today demanded a one-time power amnesty for the poor and marginalised sections of the society, hike in the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) of the MLAs, and clearance of the backlog of the vacancies in different departments, particularly General Administration Department.
Speaking on the grants of 13 departments headed by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and 12 supplementary demands in the Legislative Assembly, the legislators, particularly from the ruling NC, also hoped that a Cabinet Sub Committee (CSC) constituted earlier by the Chief Minister to look into the reservation issues of the Open Merit category, will deliver justice in a time-bound manner.
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National Conference MLA from Gurez Assembly constituency, Nazir Ahmed Khan, who is popularly known as Nazir Ahmed Gurezi, demanded that the CDF of the legislators be hiked so that they have adequate funds at the Deputy Commissioners’ disposal to address the grievances of the public in their constituencies.
He also demanded that the wooden structures in remote areas like Gurez are either compensated adequately for the fire related losses or insured by the Government like it is done in cities.
NC MLA from Lolab, Qaiser Jamsheed Lone, sought fast-track recruitments in a transparent manner, fresh delimitation and rationalisation of the revenue units, promotion of Kashmiri, Dogri and Urdu languages.
He also demanded that the CDF of the MLAs be hiked from Rs 3 crore to Rs 5 crore and the salary of the PA of the MLA be raised from Rs 12000 to Rs 25000.
Terming GAD as mother of all Departments, BJP legislator from Jammu North Assembly segment, Sham Lal Sharma, claimed that over the years, the department (GAD) has become merely a cadre-based department as it is not serving its other responsibilities like framing and execution of the rules and guidelines and looking into the regularisation aspects of the employees.
According to Sharma, in some departments, the regularisation of the employees has not been conducted for the last 15 years.
He appealed the Government to clear the backlog of 32000 vacancies in a phased manner.
He also demanded a review on the transfer of the SC and ST employees of the Jammu province who are posted in Kashmir valley for the last more than 10 years.
Speaking about the daily wagers, Sharma suggested that the J&K Government should adopt the Ladakh model to provide certain securities to the community until and unless a committee framed for their regularisation comes up with some major relief.
He also sought a one-time waiver on domestic power tariffs for the BPL and other categories of the poor people whose arrears have reached in lakhs and they are not in a position to pay.
“Or else, a mechanism can be arranged to allow them pay in small installments,” suggested Sharma.
Veteran Congress legislator Nizzamuddin Bhat from Bandipora Assembly segment demanded that an ecological balance be maintained while promoting the tourist destinations to ensure that the forests and water bodies are not harmed.
He also highlighted the issues of retreating water level in water bodies, traffic congestion, and sewerage issues.
NC MLA from Zadibal Assembly constituency, Tanvir Sadiq hoped that a Cabinet Sub Committee (CSC) constituted by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah would deliver justice in a time-bound manner as he claimed that “merit should not be disregarded.”
Sadiq raised the issues of blockage in several areas of Dal lake despite massive spending by the Governments.
He also raised the issue of spending a whopping amount of Rs 14.90 crore on chartered flights in the last four years, asking, “Which Hollywood celebrities travelled by these flights?”
The Zadibal MLA also claimed that poor people got inflated power bills during the last many years.
“As such, they be given a one-time amnesty,” he demanded.
While Mian Mehar Ali, MLA Kangan, raised his constituency specific demands, PDP MLA from Tral Assembly segment Rafiq Naik demanded a Tourism Development Authority for Tral area.
Independent legislator Pyare Lal Sharma also demanded that the tourism sector is given a fillip in his constituency with constitution of Inderwal Development Authority or bringing his constituency under the Kishtwar Development Authority (KDA).
BJP MLA from Doda West Assembly segment, Shakti Raj Parihar demanded exploration of additional power projects to make the UT power surplus besides amnesty scheme for poor and marginalised sections and rationalisation of revenue units.
He also sought clearance of the backlog in the GAD and other departments.
NC MLA from Gulmarg, Pirzada Farooq Shah, demanded constitution of a Human Resource Cell to look into the issues of Tourism Development Authorities in the UT and promotion of several adventure sports activities, like river rafting and sports festivals.
He also suggested that the small power projects be executed under the PPP mode to increase the power generation in the UT.
The MLA Gulmarg also demanded power amnesty for the BPL families and filling of thousands of vacancies in different departments besides placement of JKAS officers on right positions.
Dr Shafi Ahmed Wani, the NC MLA from Beerwah Assembly segment demanded review on pending SRO cases in GAD.
BJP MLA from Chenani Assembly constituency Balwant Singh Mankotia targeted Chief Minister Omar Abdullah for his alleged failure to deliver on ground after promising a lot to the people during election campaign.
“The CM made commitments with the people during polls like a fast bowler in the game of cricket, but when it comes to delivering what he had promised, he is behaving like a spin bowler,” Mankotia said, in reply to a jibe at him (Mankotia) the other day by the Chief Minister during his budget speech.
He also raised the issue of shortage of teachers and lack of efforts to develop tourist destinations in his Assembly segment, particularly famous tourist destination Patnitop.
NC MLA Ahsan Pardesi from Lal Chowk Assembly segment demanded that the offices of revenue officers, particularly Patwaris are located within their Revenue jurisdictions and not outside.
He also sought power amnesty for those poor consumers who cannot pay hefty bills after months of inflated bills.
National Conference MLA from Hazratbal Assembly segment, Salman Ali Sagar advocated for conversion of Chatterhaman Ward into rural block besides demanding power amnesty for the BPL families, fast-track review on reservation for the Open Merit candidates, revival of Self-Help Groups, promotion of Craft and Pashmina institute in Shehar-e-Khas, allocation of land for all BPL families, prioritisation of SRO PDD employees who lost their lives on duty, and ownership rights for residents of Section 4 Land in rural Hazratbal.
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