Shadow Correspondent
Jammu,Feb, 18
Accusing the centre of being apathetic to the concerns of Jammu region and its people, Mr. Harsh Dev Singh JKNPP Chairman and former Minister today said that the dogra land has continued to bear the brunt of discrimination even after the abrogation of Art 370 and the re-organization of the state. While Kashmir continues to get unabated attention of the govt, what falls in the lap of the nationalist dogras is disillusionment, said Singh. He was referring to a slew of measures announced for Kashmir by the centre and state govts after the abrogation of Art 370. He was addressing a huge public meeting in Khandwal village in Raipur-Domana constituency today.
Pointing towards the funds released for the two agricultural Universities of J&K by the govt, Mr. Singh regretted that while SKUAST (K) was given Rs. 20 crore, the SKUAST (J) was made to content with merely Rs. 5 crores despite the two Universities enjoying identical status. Likewise, all vacant positions in SKUAST (K) were advertised for filling up, but no action was taken to advertise the vacancies in SKUAST (J) which could help the said University to make up its deficient faculty besides providing employment avenues to local youth, he revealed.
Likewise the UT govt has released Rs. 11.89 crore for Kashmir Districts only under “Back to village” programme without addressing the financial requirements of Jammu Districts. He said that only a couple of months back, the govt had announced MIS for Kashmir farmers with Union Finance Minister further announcing a package of Rs. 5000 crores for lifting the apples, walnuts and saffron of Kashmir orchardists.
And now the J&K Horticulture Deptt has prepared a report projecting the losses to Kashmir orchardists due to “untimely snowfall” in November 2019 worth Rs. 2297 crore including damages to apple trees, revealed Singh. Only recently the govt issued an order to provide onions at control rates of Rs. 33 per kg in Kashmir and Rs. 40 per kg in Jammu, lamented Singh. He reminisced that a grand sports event “Khelo Kashmir” was organized in Srinagar recently with Avinash Rai Khanna himself monitoring the programmes alongwith the top officers of J&K govt without providing any such opportunity to the talented youth of Jammu region. He said that the UT administration seemed to be fully focused on Kashmir with mega freebies doled out to it while showing scant regard for the aspirations of Jammu.
Mr. Singh further regretted the recent shifting of Mountain Metrological Centre (MMC) and Snow and Avalanche Studies Establishment (SASE) from Jammu to Manali. He said that MMC and SASE were functional in Jammu for the last several years under the aegis of Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) with almost the entire staff in the said institutes belonging to Jammu region. He said that not only Jammu has been divested of the these centres, but the armed forces and others in J&K which were the beneficiaries of these institutes have also been deprived of an existing facility.
He divulged that the said Centres had been established to provide weather and avalanche forecast bulletins for various Districts of Jammu and Kashmir. Besides these centres conducted training programmes related to avalanche dynamics, avalanche mitigation strategies, rescue, relief and safety operations. He regretted that not only were these centres shifted but “Doppler Weather Radar” project approved at a cost of Rs. 6 crore had also been shifted out of Jammu. He said the incompetent leadership of the ruling party had failed to protect the interests of Jammu region and to save its premier institutions raised over the years.
Alleging collapse of rural infrastructure in the remote and far-flung areas of Jammu region, Mr. Singh castigated the govt for fast deteriorating power, health and road sectors in particular. He said that while Lt Governor’s administration was fully responsive to the concerns of valley, the people living in remote areas of Jammu region were suffering badly in the chilly winters with none to address their concerns.
Prominent among those who spoke on the occasion included Capt. Anil Gour, Surinder Chouhan, Gurdeep Singh, Dr. Suresh Kumar, Sai Dass, Krishan Singh Choudhary, Mehar Singh, Rashpaul Singh, Ms. Sapna Gupta, Mrs. Sansaro Devi besides others.
