Excelsior Correspondent
Tackling corruption in a Coalition Government was an “impossible” task, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said and urged that the electorate to give a clear mandate to a single party to fight the menace.
In his opening address at the second Asian forum on global governance, Omar said Coalition Governments would not be able to fight corruption as many compromises have to be made in a coalition set-up.
“If corruption is to be fought effectively, people should elect single party Governments,” he was quoted as saying in a release issued by the Observer Research Foundation (ORF).
ORF, along with Germany-based ZEIT Stiefrung, are organising the event.
However, at the same time, Omar, who is leading a Coalition Government in the State, did not foresee any single-party majority at the Centre in the near future.
Demanding more powers for States, the Chief Minister voiced concern over the tendency of leading ruling parties at the Centre to keep power in their hands.
He also criticised the tendency to use institutions like that of the Governors office to check dissenting notes from State Governments besides setting up of institutions which will reduce the power of States, the release said.
During the session, part of ten-day Asian forum themed on ‘Negotiating Governance in a Multi-polar World’, Omar faced a volley of questions on Indo-Pak relations and managing the affairs in Jammu and Kashmir from young leaders of 27 countries including Pakistan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, China, the UK, the US, France and Germany.
Continuation and crystallization of peace in the subcontinent is contingent on a sustained, sober and sincere dialogue between India and Pakistan, the Chief Minister said.
Speaking about various issues including the two decade of uncertainty, attempts made in the past in diluting the special status enjoyed by the state and the solution to Kashmir issue, Omar said “The Kashmir issue is not a economic problem but a political issue and can only be resolved by sound and prudent politics”
While speaking on the structural changes that have occurred in the Indian politics The Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said that over the past couple of decades regional parties have been taking over the political space that was once held by major political parties of India.
On a range of themes the salient of which were running a state in a federal polity and the special challenges of governance in Kashmir, the Omar said “there is a special challenges of governance in Kashmir and the major and main challenge was the reconstruction of the State apparatus ,and the institutions because it was affected badly by insurgency and militancy”
Explaining how the Government has identified rooting out corruption from the State as a challenge, Omar said ” for the first time initiatives like the State Accountability commission, RTI and other initiatives have been undertaken by his Government to reduce corruption in the state and people are empowered”
Omar after his inaugural speech enthused the audience and responded to a volley and barrage of questions ranging from questions on International Relations and Politics, governance, environment , sustainable development, political and economic problems faced by the state of Jammu & Kashmir.
While talking about the water resources and the Indus Water treaty, Omar said “the Indus Water Treaty was unfair and not in the best interests of the people of the state”.
While acknowledging the extent and the depth of the unemployment problem faced by the youth of the state Omar said that the government is taking various initiatives to address the problem through schemes like the SKEWPY, UDAAN, HIMAYAT. He said that the state stood disadvantaged by certain structural factors-location and a perceptual problem associated with the conflict- that militated against investment and setting up of industry on a large scale in the state.
The Chief Minister, while responding to a query on the conflict and its spill over impact on the environment said that the decades of militancy and insurgency had led to a permissive environment wherein rampant abuse of the environment took place. This included massive deforestation, timber smuggling, defoliation and other related forms of abuse and denudation of the environment.
National Conference Spokesman Tanvir Sadiq accompanied the Chief Minister Omar Abdullah along with strategic analyst Wajahat Qazi to the conference. The Participants in the conference included intellectuals and academics from Europe, Asia, United States and Latin America.
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