For quite some time people have been demanding creation of new administrative units in the State. They believe it is necessary for bringing in efficient and transparent governance. Long back, under necessity, new districts were carved out and the rationale was to make administration more efficient. Faster economic activity and considerable upgrading of life standard together with rising aspirations of the people have brought administration under severe pressure. Obviously, administration has to keep pace with changing times,
Way back in 2006, the idea was mooted in the higher echelons of the Government and a committee was formed which had done some spade work towards proposing the mechanism of creating new administrative units. But actually the Committee headed by Mushtaq Ahmad Ganai submitted the comprehensive and final report on the subject to the Government in 2011. The cabinet asked the Revenue Department to work out its full implications and come back with its note. Despite passage of more than a year, no note on final proposal has come from the Revenue Department. A stalemate of sorts has ensued. The question was raised in the current Assembly also and the Revenue Minister said that the matter was under the consideration of the department. Members wanted to know the reason for inordinate delay in implementation of Ganai Committee.
Broadly speaking, Ganai Committee has acknowledged that there is necessity of creating new administrative units as the present structure is not uniform and does not help in making the administration efficient. The proposal is that there should be additional 23 Sub-Divisions, 57 Tehsils, 63 CD blocks, 79 Niabats and 733 Patwar Halqas. MLAs from Jammu and also from the valley have complained that some of the tehsils do not have even a single block and others said that absence of Niabats in their constituencies had put great pressure of work on the Tehsils which the given staff could not cope with.
It appears that the real reason behind procrastinating action on the issue is its financial implication. Yes, the question of infrastructure, staff, salaries, logistics and annual budget etc, are the allied issues which shall have to be addressed. The Revenue Department is supposed to do this spadework but has not done it despite a lapse of more than one year. The Revenue Department has sought excuse in the on going budget session. This is not a convincing reason. Maybe there are elements within the bureaucracy that do not want that existing administrative units should have reduced powers and part of these transferred to new units that would come up under the proposals made by the committee. This is perverse thinking and the Government should not allow such an attitude to have its way.
We would stress upon the Revenue Department to expedite the case by submitting its note to the cabinet. After all expansion of administrative system cannot be stopped or denied. As such funds shall have to be provided. It has to be noted that cutting across party lines, members in Assembly have made a strong plea for finalizing the case and bringing in new administrative units as are recommended by Ganai Committee.
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