Excelsior Correspondent
RAJOURI, Sept 28: National Conference Provincial President Devender Singh Rana today strongly favoured elected autonomous regional and district councils with due representative structures to assuage distinct aspirations of the people and end the sense of deprivation in Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh regions.
“These councils will function under the overall ambit of the State”, Rana said while addressing NC office bearers of the Poonch and Rajouri districts here, adding a viable and well considered roadmap in this regard is provided in the Regional Autonomy Report formulated during the tenure of Dr Farooq Abdullah as Chief Minister in late nineties.
He said the proposed structure would enable larger public participation in the decision making at local levels. Such an arrangement would help in fixing priorities in respect of developmental schemes as per local needs and strengthening planning process at micro level in true democratic spirit. He said the representative councils at regional and district levels would also generate a sense of involvement among the people.
He discussed a volley of subjects, especially the challenges confronted to the unity of the State with divisive elements working overtime to create wedge between various sections of society on communal and regional lines. He said the State is passing through a difficult phase and sagacity demands the people to get united for isolating elements inimical to peace and tranquility.
The Provincial President expressed concern over voices being raised about special status of Jammu and Kashmir, saying these are not in consonance with the spirit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s bold initiative, announced from ramparts of the Red Fort on Independence Day that neither Goli nor Boli will work but the people of Jammu and Kashmir will have to be embraced with love and compassion. He referred to the recent resolution passed by the BJP Executive Committee on Article 370 and asked the party to come clean on its stand, keeping in view the assertions of the Prime Minister.
Speaking on the occasion, Javed Rana MLA brought the issues confronting to the people of forward areas and said that the lofty promises made by the PDP-BJP dispensation with regard to ending their miseries have proven to be hoax. He said the border dwellers were suffering on regular basis due to shelling from across the border with the government showing least concern towards them.
Former minister and State Vice President Syed Mushtaq Ahmed Shah Bukhari described the three years of the coalition as a period of despair, discontentment and disillusionment, saying the Government is finding itself in a state of bewilderment as to what all is there to make noise about as its performance.
Former MLA and State Secretary Th Rachpal Singh expressed dismay over the performance of the Government, saying the prices have shot up manifold and the utility services like power, drinking water, health, irrigation etc were in shambles.
In a scathing attack on the PDP-BJP Government over its failure on all fronts, former MLA and Provincial Youth National Conference President Ajaz Jan said border and remote areas are braving the main brunt. He said governance and development have hugely suffered due to inherent contradictions between the coalition partners that has left the administration in deep inertia.
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