Some lapses and faults of the Government become inexcusable as time fleets and issues remain unresolved. In a huge country like ours, there is no dearth of issues of public interest keep on rising, accumulating and piling up with the hope of their resolution becoming dimmer with each passing day. Who should we blame: the administrative machine, the social structure or the human eccentricity, it is difficult to pinpoint. Sometimes we are compelled to think that the red tape tradition left behind by the colonial power is no straight jacketed that no reform is possible do what we may. In the early years of our freedom, when the country was led by the outstanding leaders of freedom movement, it seemed that the country was in the right hands and our long and tortuous freedom struggle was worth the price we paid for it. However, as years rolled by, our political leadership showed signs of degeneration and decay because the great upsurge of nationalism that had occurred in the country lost its momentum and leadership was caught in the web of selfishness and material acquisition. Governments were unable to stem the rot, and today we are face to face with a very threatening social cataclysm.
The incident to which we will be alluding in lines to follow shows that the irresponsible layers of bureaucracy are capable of inflicting any serious damage to the people of the State and yet run away unscathed. The incident is eye opener. Everybody knows that our treacherous neighbour to the west is exploiting any and all opportunities of creating tension on the border by firing bullets and shells that scare the farmers living close to the border forcing them to abandon their habitats and seek shelter away from the reach of the bullets and shells. This exercise had been going on year after year and our Defence Ministry, trying to plug this opening, decided many years back to get the border fenced and stop Pakistani infiltration along the IB once for all. In pursuit of this decision, the State Government was also taken on board and that task of fencing the border costing crores of rupees was undertaken. Pakistan created obstructions and wanted to thwart the project as such the Defence Ministry decided to leave a gap in between the actual border and the fence line. In doing so, large area of arable land belonging to the farmers on our side fell as the gap making it impossible for the farmers to cultivate it and thereby contribute to their means of subsistence.
Common sense is that the farmers whose land has fallen in the gap and is no more cultivable suffer loss to their income and means of subsistence. The Government is duty bound to compensate these farmers so that they do not become the victims of apathy and penury. This issue was brought to the notice of the State Government as well as the Defence Ministry nearly a decade and half ago. It is regrettable that during this long period of time, no positive and concrete action has been taken to come to the rescue of the affected farmers. More than a year ago, the Civil Military Liaison Conference recommended that a joint panel of Army and civil administration in five districts of Jammu province-Jammu, Samba, Kathua, Poonch and Rajouri be constituted for detailed survey of land of farmers. Subsequently, it could work out the issue of compensation and financial assistance from the Union Government. On January 29, 2016 State Government constituted a committee headed by Chief Secretary and comprising Principal Secretary to the Government, Home Department and Secretary to the Government, Revenue Department to monitor implementation of all the decisions taken in the Civil Military Liaison Conference held on September 29, 2015. Nine months have gone by, but neither the army nor civil administration came forward to set up joint panel for conduct of detailed survey. The high-level committee never tried to ensure implementation of the vital decision of Civil-Military Liaison Conference till date.
This reflects total apathy of the administration towards a very genuine case of the farmers of above mentioned five districts of Jammu region. We have already said that this is essentially a matter in which the Defence Ministry and the Home Ministry have to take the final call. We would like to make an appeal to both of these ministries to divert their attention to the farmers who have a humanitarian cause to present. The affected farmers have been suffering in more than one way. Their land has been taken away from them; they are forced to abandon their homes and hearths when firing and shelling takes place from the other side of the IB, their cattle wealth suffers serious losses and their children suffer disruption of schooling and other facilities. This is a very genuine case and the authorities concerned should take a notice of it and find out the mechanism of resolving it without further loss of time.
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