*Consensus may elude Panel again
Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, July 20: Notwithstanding the fact that it failed to hold a single meeting during its seventh extension of six months from November 1, 2012 to April 30, 2013, the Government has once again extended tenure of a Cabinet Sub Committee (CSC) on high profile Justice Sagheer Ahmed Working Group report for six months to evolve a consensus on vital issues raised by it.
This happened to be eighth extension of the eight-members CSC (four each from National Conference and Congress) since it was constituted in January 2010 by the order of the State Cabinet after Justice (retired) Sagheer Ahmed (now dead) had submitted his report to Chief Minister Omar Abdullah in December 2009.
Official sources told the Excelsior that the Government has extended the period of the CSC for another six months. The CSC term had expired on April 30 this year and since then its fate was hanging in balance in the absence of any Government direction on extension of the term.
Sources confirmed that the Government has extended term of the CSC for another six months with retrospective effect from April 30, 2013 when its previous extension had expired. A formal order to this effect by the General Administration Department (GAD) would be issued in next few days, they said.
Admitting that frequent extensions to the CSC were necessitated as the Committee hadn’t been able to evolve consensus on some crucial recommendations especially on autonomy, the most controversial subject in the report in view of divergent views among the Alliance partners-National Conference and Congress.
Despite another extension, sources admitted that it was very difficult, or rather impossible, to evolve a consensus in the CSC on Sagheer recommendation due to different stands taken by the two Alliance partners.
Not a single meeting of the Committee was held during six months period of seventh extension ranging between November 1, 2012 to April 30, 2013, which was attributed to reshuffle in the Council of Ministry in which some members of the Panel were dropped from the Cabinet and later replaced with new faces, sources said.
The Government had reconstituted the CSC on February 18 after the Ministry reshuffle in which two members of the Committee-Qamar Ali Akhoon and Surjit Singh Slathia (both from NC) were dropped. CAPD and Transport Minister Choudhary Mohammad Ramzan and Planning Minister Ajay Sadhotra had replaced them.
The Committee headed by Finance Minister Abdul Rahim Rather now comprised Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Minister Ali Mohammad Sagar, Mr Ramzan and Mr Sadhotra (all from NC), Housing Minister Raman Bhalla, PHE Minister Sham Lal Sharma, Urban Development Minister Rigzin Jora and Medical Education Minister Taj Mohi-ud-Din (all from Congress).
Sources said the Government has been left with no option but to grant eighth extension to the Committee unless it wanted the Panel to die its own death.
They added that the Congress Ministers were determined to oppose the National Conference move of submitting pro-autonomy recommendations by the CSC. Sources said the Congress Ministers have made it clear to their National Conference colleagues in the CSC that they stand for Indira-Sheikh accord for basis to any solution to Kashmir problem and not autonomy.
However, Sagheer Ahmad Working Group had recommended autonomy as a solution to Kashmir problem.
The National Conference was a strong supporter of autonomy.
Sources said with Parliament and Assembly elections due next year, both the parties didn’t want to dilute their stand and there was every possibility that the standoff between two Alliance partners in the CSC would continue if it was granted another extension.
Sources said the CSC in its previous meetings had done a lot of work and reached consensus on some of the issues but the differences persisted on autonomy.
The CSC had held nearly 17 meetings since it was set up in January 2010.
Justice Sagheer Ahmed Working Group had touched various sensitive subjects as it had been mandated by Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh to submit a report on strengthening Centre-State relations and other subjects of discrimination and problems faced by refugees. It had recommended autonomy for the State and a full and final decision on Article 370 of the Constitution of India, granting special status to the State. It had also made a host of other recommendations as per its mandate.
Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh during first stint of United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Government had in March 2006 set up five Working Groups in the Second Round Table Conference on Jammu and Kashmir held in Srinagar. They include ‘Working Group on Confidence Building Measures Across Segments of Society in the State’, ‘Working Group on Strengthening Centre-State Relations’, ‘Working Group on Ensuring Good Governance’, ‘Working Group on Strengthening Relations Across LoC’ and ‘Working Group on Economic Reforms’.
Four out of five Working Groups had submitted their reports in April 2007 to the Prime Minister during third Round Table Conference on Kashmir held in New Delhi.
However, report of fifth Working Group headed by Justice Sagheer Ahmed was delayed due to completely divergent opinions given by its members and was submitted by Justice Ahmed to Chief Minister Omar Abdullah in December 2009. The Chief Minister had later submitted the report to the Prime Minister.
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