Urging the country’s leadership to revive the process political reconciliation and economic rejuvenation in Jammu and Kashmir, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) President and Member Parliament, Mehbooba Mufti Monday reiterated her party’s resolve to usher the State into an era of peace, stability and prosperity.“The mandate thrown up by the 2014 Assembly elections in the State has not only come as a challenge, but there lies a huge opportunity in it. The opportunity to bridge the inter-regional and intra-regional divide and carry the people of all the regions and sub-regions together in the march towards peace, stability and prosperity,” Mehbooba said while addressing a day-long PDP convention here.“As this mandate has come with fresh responsibilities and expectations, our Government stands by its commitment to fight for the people’s cause and to bring a qualitative improvement in their lives,” she said and added that the results of the tangible initiatives on developmental, social and economic fronts set into motion by the Government will be visible on the ground soon.Listing development-deficit and unemployment as the grey areas to be tackled on priority, Mehbooba said the Government has started with breaking the inertia that has crept into the administration at various levels due to the non-functioning of the previous NC-Congress regime. “The weeding out of the deadwood is one of the initiatives taken by the Government to bring the sluggish administration back on rails,” she said and added that while majority of the administrative structure in the State is more than eager to deliver, it was only due to the lack of a responsive and responsible leadership at the political level that institutional degradation had become rampant during the past six years. “With the taking over of the present Government under the visionary leadership of Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, the administration has also started responding to and implementing the new initiatives with sincerity of purpose so that the people on the ground feel the change.
Mehbooba said to tackle unemployment, the Government has already put in place a new recruitment policy and around 40000 vacancies in civil and police administration are being filled up by the recruiting agencies in a transparent manner during next five to six months.She said the Government has also initiated various pioneering measures in social, education, health, road communication, power, rural development and other key sectors to give a fillip to the infrastructure and create productive assets on the ground, which had taken a massive hit in September 2014 floods. “To bring the weaker sections of the society including destitute and widows under the social and financial security net, the Government has launched two notable schemes – Aasra and Laadli,” she said and added that the features of these schemes have already been publicized through media and deserving people must take full advantage of these welfare measures.
Mehbooba said similarly in road communication sector durable assets are being created after having liberated the Department from the clutches of the politico-contractor nexus, which was rampant during the previous regime. “The irony is that while thousands of tonnes of tar macadam where shown by the previous regime on papers having been utilized for upgradation of roads, on physical verification even half of it was not used anywhere in the State,” she said and added that all this money was instead pocketed by the politico-contractor nexus. “It is for the first time after a long shoddy era that substantive work is visible on the ground in road communication sector,” she said.Referring to the health sector, Ms Mehbooba said besides five new medical colleges coming up in the State, a maternity and a model hospital would be provided in each constituency to provide healthcare facilities to the people at their doorstep. She said similarly in rural development sector, a community hall would be constructed in each constituency.Regarding rations, Mehbooba said the Government has started already started distribution of rations as per the fresh survey covering additional 6.70 lakh families with around 40 lakh souls.She said through a significant decision, the Government has brought down the electricity charges by reducing electricity duty rate from the existing 22% to 10% in respect of all consumers. “In another measure, the Govt has also ordered waiver of 100% surcharge on outstanding electricity bills as on 1st August 2015,” she said. (CNS)