New Delhi: Union Minister of State G Kishan Reddy on Monday said with violence in Jammu and Kashmir having gone down, the Union Territory was poised for development because of the large number of Central Government projects.
Giving statistics, he said the number of infiltration attempts had fallen to just 99 in 2020 as against 216 in 2019; terrorist violence had fallen from 594 in 2019 to 244 in 2020; while the stone-pelting incidents had sharply declined to jus 327 last year from over 2,000 in 2019.
Reddy was piloting the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill in the Rajya Sabha which was later passed by voice vote. The Bill will replace an ordinance to merge the J&K cadre of all-India services (such as IAS, IPS, the Indian Forest Service) with the Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Mizoram Union Territory (AGMUT) cadre.
The debate was limited in scope but the brief discussion saw both sides dwelling on various issues relating to the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
Replying to the debate that also marked Congress veteran Ghulam Nabi Azad’s last speech as Rajya Sabha member, Reddy said the legislation would correct the huge deficiency of officers of All-India Services in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
“Developmental schemes, centrally-sponsored schemes and other allied activities have suffered due to the non-availability of adequate number of all-India officers in the existing cadres of the Jammu and Kashmir,” he argued.
By merging the Jammu and Kashmir with the AGMUT cadre, officers working in other Union Territories would be able to bring their experience and freshness of vision to Jammu and Kashmir, Reddy argued, while implicitly dismissing Azad’s suggestion to make recruitments from Jammu and Kashmir.
Earlier, opening the discussion, Azad sought restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir by the next Budget so that bureaucracy need not perform the job of legislators, who are better at formulating well-rounded legislation.
Azad said the government’s declarations of major job opportunities, industrialisation and Indians purchasing land had come to naught.
“Rather than adding to the industries, 60 per cent of enterprises in Jammu had closed down. In Kashmir, industrialisation is difficult due to the absence of all-weather communication links. Land was difficult to purchase because most of it was forests and mountains due to which one acre of land in Srinagar and Jammu costs Rs 40-50 crore,” the Leader of the Opposition said.
Azad also spoke on the water and health woes of the people.
Replying to the discussion, Reddy said the government plans to finish construction of the Chenab railway bridge — the highest in the world — by next year, an elevated light rail system in Srinagar and Jammu will be operational in four years, creation of additional power capacity of over 3,000 mw was under way and water would be provided to all households by September 2022.
On health, he pointed to 140 ongoing new health projects, including two AIIMs-like super specialty hospitals, seven medical colleges and 15 nursing colleges and two cancer institutes to be set up by the Union Territory government.
On the jobs front, as many as 10,000 class-four vacancies had been identified, a recruitment drive was on for 12,300 posts, and recruitments will be made only from Jammu and Kashmir for five Indian Reserve Police battalions plus two border and women police battalions.
Reddy admitted that some outreach programs such as the plan for all Union Cabinet Ministers to have a “night out” in far-flung areas of Jammu and Kashmir had to be discontinued due to the pandemic. (AGENCY)
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