Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Mar 4: Former Minister and senior Congress leader Raman Bhalla today slammed BJP for putting Jammu’s interests and development subservient to remain glued to power.
Bhalla said this while addressing public gatherings at Guru Tegh Bahadur Nagar, Narwal Bala and Gangyal organised by Jasbir Singh and Raj Kumar Raja.
“Despite being in power at the Centre and in the State, the party failed miserably on governance front and let down Jammu on all fronts’’, Bhalla said, adding that the BJP has nothing to showcase as its achievement, least to fulfilling liberal promises during elections.
Bhalla observed that the treachery and deceit of the BJP is haunting Jammu people who reposed their unflinching faith and support to it with the hope that Jammu may perhaps get a better deal as during the days of its wilderness in the opposition, the BJP leaders were crying hoarse over discrimination and neglect.
Bhalla said that while Govt showed dry coffers to the workers, employees, pensioners, unemployed and under-employed educated youth of the State, the legislators are unmoved by the grievances of common man. He said that the incumbent Govt. had framed the most obnoxious ‘New Recruitment Policy’ for the youth on less than one third of their legitimate salary on the grounds of financial constraints.
He further pointed out that several sections of employees including NHM workers, MG-NREGA employees, ReTs, Home Guards, contractual lecturers, etc were on the roads seeking regularization of their services and release of their nominal wages which had been unpaid for several months. He said that development had come to a grinding halt with people holding protests and demonstrations even for restoration of essential services but the authorities concerned were expressing helplessness in view of financial crisis.
Deploring the miserable plight of the Female Multipurpose Health Workers (FMPHWs) who were observing strike for the last more than one month for the release of their long pending salaries, he said that the issue of their salary head under Health and Family Welfare had not been resolved despite continuous hard struggle and the State Government had divested them of their due wages for more than 12 months.
Reacting over injuries to over 20 activists of the All J&K ReT Teachers Forum (JKReTTF) in the police action outside the Press Club Jammu on Saturday, Bhalla termed the use of force against protesting teachers unfortunate and said such incidents would not deter the forum from continuing their struggle.
He said that 41,000 ReT teachers under Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) are without salaries for the last three months and their families are grappling with odds and passing through traumatising situation due to financial constraints.
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