Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, July 28: Emphasizing that All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) is a necessity for Jammu, National Conference today reiterated its stand, saying that while decision for having it in the Valley is a welcome step, immediate measures are needed to have similar facility in Jammu to satiate people’s aspirations and to meet requirements of health services in the region.
“The coalition must not overlook the sensitivity involved with the issue and force people to take recourse from peaceful protests to agitation, which will not be in larger interests of the State”, Provincial President Devender Singh Rana said while addressing the party functionaries at Sher-e-Kashmir Bhavan here this afternoon.
He cautioned against any attempt to mishandle the current controversy, saying this can be detrimental to public interest. He said Jammu rightfully deserves a separate AIIMS and every moment of delay in its sanctioning may only precipitate the matter, which is discernible from the chain hunger strike being observed in the winter capital for the past several days.
The Provincial President expressed anguish over delaying tactics of the Centre and passing of buck by the PDP-BJP alliance by lending false assurances and making hollow promises. He referred to the written undertaking given by BJP ministers and subsequent assurances held out from time to time and said if the BJP led Government has decided AIIMS for Jammu then what they are waiting for. He cautioned the Governments both in J&K and at the Centre not to test patience of the people and settle down the issue without further delay.
Mr Rana accused BJP of betraying the massive mandate they got in the Assembly elections and said their inept handling of the situation has forced people to come to streets. He said the people of Jammu were rightly feeling a sense of hurt and deprivation as the PDP-BJP coalition has miserably failed in taking cognizance of their legitimate demands. “Instead of appreciating the problem, the duo is taking sadistic pleasure in the unrest among people over the issue of AIIMS”, he added.
The Provincial President lamented deceptive politics being played by the coalition and said National Conference has never ever discriminated any region or section of society and it is in this context that the party has been endevarouring to seek justice for all the three regions of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh.
Prominent among those present on the occasion included Peer Mushtaq Ahmed Bukhari, Th. Kashmira Singh, Rattan Lal Gupta, Brij Mohan Sharma, Haji Mohammad Hussain, Jugal Mahajan, Bimla Luthra, Th. Rachpal Singh, Ch. Haroon, Ch. Arshad, Anil Dhar, Satwant Kour Dogra, Mohammad Ayub Malik, Dharamveer Singh Jamwal, Pardeep Bali, Dilshad Malik, Vijay Lochan, Rajesh Bakshi, Rehmat Ali, Abdul Gani Teli, KD Singh, Pankaj Kohli,Ch. Akhtar, Rohit Bali, S. Nirmal Singh,Som Nath, Yashvarshan Singh, Pushpa Dogra, Pinki Bhat and others.
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