*Interference, policy decisions by FM under attack
Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, Nov 28: Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed said today that adequate powers will be delegated to all Ministers of State (MoS) by their senior colleagues in Jammu and Kashmir and assured BJP, the coalition partner of PDP in the Government, that three portfolios in the category of MoS will be allocated to the BJP Ministers.
Asserting that his Government was committed to equal treatment to all three regions of Jammu and Kashmir, Sayeed told high level BJP delegation comprising Ministers and legislators that points made by them on discrimination with Ladakh and Doda in particular and some others areas of Jammu in general in construction of roads will be addressed immediately.
Sayeed gave these assurances to the BJP Ministers and legislators, who met him at his official residence this morning raking up a series of issues.
This was the first meeting of BJP Ministers and legislators directly with the Chief Minister in which no PDP Minister or any other senior leaders were present.
Official sources told the Excelsior that the meeting was necessitated after not only the BJP legislators but even the Ministers had serious complaints against the PDP Ministers for bypassing them on the issues of importance and policy decisions.
Finance Minister Dr Haseeb Drabu, Education Minister Naeem Akhter and Works Minister Altaf Bukhari were the prime targets of the BJP Ministers and legislators.
Mufti Sayeed is reported to have assured the BJP delegation that the Ministers of State were important part of the Parliamentary democracy and they should be delegated adequate powers by their Cabinet colleagues.
“The Cabinet Ministers must ensure that their junior colleagues get due powers,’’ he reportedly said.
Noting that the very basis of PDP-BJP coalition Government was to bring all three regions—Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh together, the Chief Minister said there can be no scope for discrimination with any region or sub region within the region.
“If there was any such case, it must be brought to my notice,’’ he told the BJP delegation and assured that their complaints pertaining to no roads in erstwhile Doda district (Chenab Valley), parts of Bani-Basohli and Ladakh region will be addressed.
A number of BJP Ministers and legislators had pointed out that majority of road works have been initiated by Works Minister Altaf Bukhari in the Kashmir valley while Jammu and Ladakh have been given very raw deal. Cooperative Minister Chering Dorjey (from Leh) endorsed the demand and said Ladakh deserved more road connectivity than any other region in view of its topography.
The Chief Minister told the BJP leaders that the Government was committed to empower Panchayats and Municipalities after their elections next year and there was no question of not empowering the Ministers of State or discriminating with any region.
Mufti Sayeed was also said to have assured the BJP that their three portfolios in MoS category—Ladakh Affairs, Rural Development Department and Horticulture will be given to them. Ladakh Affairs was held by Dorjey while Rural Development and Horticulture were held by Abdul Ghani Kohli before their elevation as Cabinet Ministers in April. Since then the Government hasn’t allotted these three portfolios to any MoS from the BJP.
There are six Ministers of State in 25 members Council of Ministry headed by Sayeed. They included Pawan Gupta (Finance and IT), Sunil Sharma (Works and Revenue) and Priya Sethi (Education and Information), all three from BJP, Abdul Majid Paddar (PHE, Irrigation & Flood Control and Forests), Mohammad Ashraf Mir (Industries and Commerce, Power, Housing and Urban Development) and Asiea Naqash (Health and Social Welfare), all from PDP.
While Mufti Sayeed agreed to most of the demands put forth by the BJP leaders, sources said, he was non-committal on withdrawal of 12 per cent Services Tax imposed by the Finance Minister on chopper service from Katra to Sanji Chat and vice versa. The issue of withdrawal of tax was taken up by Industries and Commerce Minister Chander Prakash Ganga. Deputy Chief Minister Dr Nirmal Singh has already taken up the issue of Services Tax with Dr Drabu.
Sources said the issue of the Finance Minister releasing Rs 10 crores worth funds directly to transformer repairing workshops in the State was also taken up by the BJP Ministers and legislators, who charged Drabu with taking policy decisions of other Ministers on his own. They wanted the Chief Minister to direct Drabu to take care of his own Ministry and don’t take policy decisions like imposition of Services Tax on chopper service for pilgrims on his own.
According to sources, Minister of State for Finance and Information Technology Pawan Gupta complained to the Chief Minister that not even a single file of Finance or Information Technology is routed through him and he hasn’t been given any powers except for sanction of leave of some employees.
Minister of State for Education Priya Sethi too had similar complaints with her senior colleague Naeem Akhter alleging that the Minister instead of delegating powers to her has given powers to bureaucrats, which is not done in the democratically elected Government.
Another BJP MoS Sunil Sharma (Incharge Works and Revenue) was not present in the meeting.
Sources said the complaints of the two Ministers of State drew instant support from the Ministers and legislators, who alleged serious discrepancies in transfers of lecturers and teachers of Jammu.
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