Binoo Joshi
( J K News Today Commentary)
Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti had all the reason to be angry when she was greeted with dismal performance record in regard to the development projects and law and order situation at a review meeting in Jammu on Monday. Things had not moved since she made a similar review in April soon after taking over the office of head of the government .
The issues on which she demanded progress report were not flagged off overnight . They were there for almost two years now , and she found it hard to believe that nothing has been achieve in the past over six months when the seat of the government was in Srinagar. That, in itself, is no excuse that the works should have stood frozen , because the government was not here.
In fact, the government was here in Jammu. All the important ministers from PDP and of-course, from BJP were mapping Jammu region during summers immediately after the death of Hizb-ul-Mujahadeen commander Burhan Wani in July . They were making field visits and holding unending review meetings .
Despite that if the people are not getting rations, roads and buildings have not been constructed , hospitals are without adequate facilities and commoners are crying for basic necessities , then there is definitely wrong with the system .
One of the excuses advanced by the men who matter is that “ Kashmir unrest of four months” consumed their attention. As the ministers and bureaucrats were out of the trouble-torn Valley , how can they justify the lack of attention towards projects in Jammu . This is incomprehensible . Kashmir was neither supplying material nor labour to Jammu.
The exchange of fire on borders created a situation and they found them engaged in providing relief to the border population . The ground reality is far from different what the divisional administration told Chief Minister. For days together, the bureaucrats did not bother to visit the affected villages and failed to infuse confidence among the people in their capabilities to look after them. Their claims were sham . Border residents could have told Chief Minister the truth about their plight, but they don’t have access to ministers and officers, so who listens to them.
Mehbooba Mufti should take all the defaulters in the administration to task , and if she cannot do that, then it would be concluded that she is not in control of things , while bureaucracy and police are ruling the roost.
