Putting Best Foot Forward
- With a nominal cash in hand, the government did what it could to help the needy.
- Popular discourse, massively exaggerated by the media, both local and national, keeps blaming the present dispensation for everything wrong.
- The Chief Minister, despite an indifferent coalition partner, is pioneering ground-breaking initiatives on every front.
- It has been only six months of government in the office and the change is already visible.
- The government will do its best to safeguard and develop the state.
A year has come to pass since the flood, a tragedy of immense proportions hit the state of J&K. Last year, this day, we watched with bated breath, looking helplessly at the surging waters which dealt painful blows to our present. They also provided an opportunity for moulding a better future.
A new historic coalition came into office in March this year with the immediate challenge of providing relief to nearly 4.5 million people affected by the deluge. According to independent estimates, damage to public and private infrastructure was pegged at about Rs one lakh crore, the restoration of which has become the central policy by the new government.
Government’s Relief Measures
To deal with the immediate humane crisis, the government waived off demand charges on electricity for seven months from September 2014, when the flood hit the state, to March 2015, when a new flood threat still loomed large. With a nominal cash in hand, the government did what it could to help the needy. They need more. We are aware of it.
While the popular discourse, massively exaggerated by the media, both local and national, keeps blaming the present dispensation for everything wrong, we exempted passenger tax on vehicles, which remained off due to floods. Stamp duty was remitted on documents on fresh loans to persons affected due to floods and exempted GST on hotels, lodges, guest houses till March 2016.
Besides, hoteliers were also exempted from payment of entry tax on goods imported from outside the state, 50 percent of Kisan Credit Card (KCC) Scheme loans for smallest and vulnerable farmers were waived off and gold and silver loans for certain categories of registered dealers and traders were introduced.
All this was done so that our business community, the backbone of any economy, doesn’t suffer.
Work-In-Progress
There are immense challenges before us and they will be met with strength. While the delay by the Centre in announcing the financial package for the state is no excuse, the Chief Minister, despite an indifferent coalition partner, is pioneering ground-breaking initiatives on political and developmental front.
It was under this government that the ‘Laadli’ scheme was announced under which Rs 1000 would be deposited by the government for 14 years in the account of a girl child born after April 1, 2015 to a family whose annual income is Rs 75,000 or below and after attaining the age of 21 years, the girl child will get a lump-sum amount of Rs 6.50 lakh.
The Roads and Buildings department has already ordered pre-feasibility study for construction of a tunnel on Mughal Road to provide all-weather connectivity between Kashmir and Jammu via Shopian, Rajouri and Poonch.
A new national highway is being developed from Srinagar to Qazigund via Shopian that would further improve the physical connectivity of valley with rest of the country making it a hub of economic activity.
A new state-of-the-art Fruit Mandi spread over around 300 kanals (15 hectares) of land is being developed at Aglar to boost the post-harvest management and marketing of apple and other fruits grown in the area.
Achievements So Far
The government has succeeded in its goal of hampering the nefarious designs of the “transfer mafia” who used to take money in lieu of transfers in the education department. Youth of the state have taken an interest in sports activities, event organising, musical concerts and many other successful activities like Longest Iftaar Party and musical events.
There are so many issues that need to change immediately. But the debates must not be held hostage to political convictions. As an attempt to remedy the past, there is an amnesiac disconnect with tradition and hollow castles of future are built, several feet high in the air, at the cost of our ruined present and an uncertain future.
In a state tormented by violence and its aftermath, our government took a historic initiative under which all the families including widows and destitute with annual income below Rs 75,000 will get free insurance cover and in case of death or disability of the family’s breadwinner, the next of the kin would get Rs two lakh while in case of partial disability, the amount would be Rs one lakh.
The government in future will also be focusing on the construction of Model Ethnographic Villages to showcase intrinsic cultural and heritage strengths of our people; the first pilot cultural village will be the one that was inhabited by the Kashmiri Pandits.
It has been only six months of government in the office and the change is clearly visible. But it takes two to tango. The government will do its best to safeguard and develop the state on larger lines. But there is too much focus on past, at the cost of a viable strategy for future.
Read related article on last year’s flood crisis.
Check out a photo feature of the J&K flood.
(The author is a Political Analyst in the office of J&K Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed.)