Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister and National Conference Working President Omar Abdullah on Tuesday condemned the “lack of seriousness” shown by the PDP-BJP Government in taking timely action to prevent the extension of National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) to J&K.“NEET is against the interests of our students and clearly goes against the spirit and essence of J&K’s special status. The State Government has shown a stunning sense of irresponsibility and lack of seriousness in dealing with this issue and this has created apprehension and anxiety in the minds of our students when they should be solely focused on their academic pursuits and upcoming entrance examinations,” said Omar.He was addressing workers’ conventions at Peth Makhama, Cherhaar and Waltal Pora areas in his Beerwah Constituency of Central Kashmir’s Budgam district.“Indolence and irresponsibility have become the two distinct traits of the PDP-BJP Government and its top-level leadership. Such crucial issues deserve the prompt, timely and undivided attention of the Chief Minister and the State Government. Even the minutest callousness has the potential of having far reaching political implications in a State like J&K,” said Omar.
“Despite being aware of how NEET was against the interests of our students and also against the spirit of our autonomous character, the PDP-BJP Government did not move a petition in the Supreme Court until questions were raised in the media about the Government’s lack of action - at which time they were forced to move a petition in the Supreme Court.”The NC Working President said there was a fifty percent reservation system in J&K’s medical colleges for girl students and this was one of the hard-fought achievements of Sher-e-Kashmir Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah who believed in women empowerment through equal opportunities in education.“NEET poses the grave threat that this significant percentage of reserved seats in our medical colleges meant for girl students from our State will now have to be shared on a national level. Our girl students would possibly have to compete for these reservations against students from the rest of the country. Then there are issues of curriculum mismatches, differences in syllabus as well as systemic incongruities. Our students should be free of these anxieties and they should be focusing on their studies instead”, the NC Working President stated.
“After studying for two to three years preparing for the State level entrance examinations, today – because of the callousness of the State Government – our students are faced with the possibility of having to appear for an examination with a different curriculum than the one they have prepared for. The ordeal of having to prepare afresh and suddenly appear in a new, untried examination is weighing on the minds of our students.”“Most students who come from the State Board academic background – and they constitute the overwhelming majority of our students – will have to study a new CBSE syllabus in order to prepare for the NEET. Whatever they have studied for the past two years and all their hard-work faces the risk of being discredited because of how irresponsible and insensitive our State Government has proven to be in this case,” he said.The National Conference Working President said the PDP-BJP Government had shown similar ineptitude and irresponsibility while dealing with other vital issues of importance to the State.
“Look at how the State Government forced hundreds and thousands of our brothers and sisters out on the streets to protest for their basic allocation of ration as per the previous, established norms.“The PDP-BJP Government extended the National Food Security Act (NFSA) to the State despite clear and known disadvantages it had for our State. Till today the State Government has no solid solution to offer on the NFSA mess that it created. We had opposed the extension of NFSA to J&K during the tenure of the NC-led Government for these precise reasons. Sadly, the PDP-BJP Government was unmoved by the prospects of our people suffering because of NFSA and they decided to go ahead with the Act. Now, we get to see a new display of ineptness and irresponsibility once every month.”
The National Conference Working President said the PDP-BJP Government was absconding from the ground and had left the people to fend for themselves.
“Where are the Ministers? Where are the ruling party’s MLAs? They haven’t been seen in their constituencies since months and the Chief Minister is busy is reorganizing files and stationary in the Civil Secretariat. What happened to the 80,000 crores central package that was granted by the Central Government and consequently flaunted by the PDP as the price it had received for its complete ideological surrender and sale? Basic functions of the Government have been brought to a grinding halt for lack of funds being dispensed to the departments. There is absolutely no sign of infrastructure creation and new developmental projects in the State”, the NC Working President added.