Jammu Redefining
3
| January 12--January 26, 2014
C O V E R
S T O R Y
Feud Over New Administrative Units
(Contd. from Page 1)
The Congress Minister said the Chief Minister
and the National Conference was trying to gain
"political mileage'' out of the issue of administrative
units while the Congress stands for complete transparency before creating the new units.
"We too want creation of new units but in a complete transparent manner. We are in a no hurry. The
units sho uld be set up after the CSC submits its
report after touring the entire State,'' the Congress
leader said describing January 15 deadline as
"deliberate attempt to implement Mushtaq Ganai
Commission report, which was blatantly biased
towards Jammu region''.
He admitted that under no circumstances
January 15 deadline on submission of report can be
met with as the CSC was yet to tour 90 per cent
Kashmir Valley and Ladakh and then compile the
data and make recommendations.
Not ruling out showdown with Congress on the
issue of creation of new administrative units, a senior National Conference leader didn't rule out the
NC vying for implementation of Bloeria and Ganai
Commission reports on the new administrative units
as proposed by NC's provincial core group.
The CSC comprised seven members including
three each from NC and Congress. It was headed
by Deputy Chief Minister and Congress leader Tara
Chand and have PHE, Irrigation and Flood Control
Minister Sham Lal Sharma and Urban Development
Minister Rigzin Jora, all Congress, Higher
Education Minister Mohammad Akbar Lone,
Planning and Development Minister Ajay Sadhotra
and Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister
Saifullah Mir, all NC and Agriculture Minister
Ghulam Hassan Mir, an associate member of
Congress.
BONE OF CONTENTION
M
USHTAQ GANAI Commission has recommended more administrative units for Kashmir
as against Jammu region.
During creation of eight new districts by then
Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad in 2007, the PDP
was opposed to the decision but Azad had unilaterally announced the new districts. The possibility that
the National Conference would go in for unilateral
decision on the administrative units if the CSC
report was delayed also cannot be ruled out plunging the state in to another political turmoil.
COALITION DIVIDED OVER EX-ARMY CHIEF TOO
T
HE issue of former Army chief Gen VK Singh
being summoned again by Legislative Council
Privilege Committee headed by Congress leaders
and former Minister Jugal Kishore on January 22
has also snowballed into another row between the
two coalition partners especially after PCC (I) chief
Prof Saif-ud-Din Soz publicly stating that he was
personally opposed to the summons issued to Gen
Singh when he has already replied to the charges.
Sources said the Congress leaders including
those in the Privilege Committee were of the view
that the NC was trying to exaggerate the issue and
it should be treated as closed since Gen Singh has
CMYK
given his reply to Legislative Council Chairman
Amrit Malhotra.
However, National Conference provincial president and member of Privilege Committee,
Devender Singh Rana said: "let us not confuse
retired General VK Singh with the Indian Army. He
is not the Army chief. He is former Army chief. I
strongly believe that the privilege motion is against
an individual and so far as the Army is concerned, I
feel that it is the steel frame Indian democracy and
his (Gen Singh's) statement about politicians of J&K
has been strongly refuted by all living former Army
chief. Some people are trying to blur those lines of
distinction to create confusion, which was not
required''.
However, the senior Congress leaders of the
Council including those in the Privilege Committee
were of the view that the NC was again trying to
gain "political mileage'' from the issue of former
Army chief and the issue should be settled when
Gen Singh has given his reply to Mr Malhotra.
BJP DEMANDS FIVE NEW DISTRICTS
D
ISMISSING outright the biased, irrational and
highly discriminatory recommendations as contained in the reports of S.S Bloeria and Mushtaq
Ahmed on creation of new administrative units at
Block, Niabat and Sub-Divisional levels in Jammu &
Kashmir, BJP has demanded creation of five new
districts in Jammu province to meet the legitimate
demands of the people. "Set up forthwith five new
districts of Basohli-Billawar, Akhnoor, Sunderbani
comprising Sunderbani, Kalakot and Nowshehra
tehsils and R.S. Pura and grant the status of backward area to all the villages in Jammu province and
Ladakh region that deserve such a status to bring
them at par with the Kashmir villages," BJP state
President Jugal Kishore Sharma said in a meeting
held here today to discuss the manner in which the
Cabinet-sub-committee
(CSC)
headed
by
Congress leader and Dy CM Tara Chand has been
conducting itself and implications of the recommendation of Bloeria and Mushtaq.
JAMMU REGION BEING GIVEN RAW DEAL: NPP
N
ATIONAL PANTHERS Party (NPP) Chairman,
Harsh Dev Singh has urged Jammu based
ministers not to succumb to the pressures of their
Kashmir counterparts over the issue of creation of
new administrative units in view of wide spread
irregularities and huge regional disparities in the
proposed report.
Castigating the lopsided proposals and biased
recommendations made in the Ganai Report, he
said Jammu region has been given a raw deal with
more than 70 per cent new creations having been
recommended for Kashmir Division.
Besides, he alleged, political considerations having formed the basis of said recommendations for
the purpose as was evident from a perusal of the
Ganai Report.
He said that looking at the desperation of the
Kashmir based ministers to implement the highly
controversial report, the Jammu based ministers
needed to take a tough stand and not to surrender
to the dictates of the former.
Cautioning further the members of Cabinet Sub
Committee (CSC) to desist from playing politics
over the issue, he called for complete review of the
Ganai Committee Report and making recommendation of all new administrative units strictly on merits.
PDP TERMS IT FUTILE EXERCISE
T
ERMING the exercise of Cabinet Sub
Committee for creation of new administrative
units as futile and politically motivated Peoples
Democratic Party has demanded that the government at first should have publicized the recommendation of Mustaq Ganaie committee with respect to
the creation of new Administrative units so that the
people could have been made aware of.
PDP claims that the NC led Govt wants to hoodwink the masses and making fool of the people by
playing with their sentiments af ter the lapse of five
years of its failed tenure. PDP leaders termed the
whole exercise of cabinet sub committee in Rajouri
as futile and wastage of public exchequer.