Slathia assails administrative, developmental inertia in JK

Vijaypur: Saying that the border and the rural residents of the Jammu region were nurturing a feeling of neglect and deprivation due to administrative apathy, former Minister and senior National Conference leader Mr Surjeet Singh Slathia Saturday urged the government to wake up from deep slumber and reach out to the suffering people at ground zero with solution to their plethora of problems.
During the second day of his public outreach programme, Mr Slathia, while interacting with people at Bari- Brahmana, said nothing seems to be right on ground zero, be it power or drinking water supply, road communication or utility services.
“The administrative apathy is at its worst and the people are finding themselves at the crossroads of history with accessibility to the government a far-cry”, the former minister said and referred to the dwindling pace of developmental activities, especially in the border and rural areas. He said the prevailing pandemic has added to the miseries of the people.
Slathia said that unemployment among educated youth, as also skilled and unskilled workforce, has accumulated and taken alarming proportions because of non-seriousness of those at the helm, he said.
The senior NC leader said Jammu is craving for attention and wishes the developmental tempo to be accelerated with focus on the completion of ongoing works in a time bound manner. The delays have not only resulted in cost escalation but also denied the people of timely benefits of schemes, he said, adding that a course correction is needed for putting the rural belts on the right developmental track.
He referred to peculiar problems facing the people in Vijaypur constituency, saying a multi-pronged strategy is required to be adopted to ensure equitable development. He demanded fast-track employment, enabling the unemployed youth to find some source of succour. “A special package is needed for the border belts for recruitment in police and other security forces”, he said, adding this will be a big step towards youth empowerment.
Those accompanying Mr Slathia during his visit included District President Samba Mohinder Gupta, Vice President Vijay Singh, Block President Bhagwan Singh,, Chairman Block Development Council Bari Brahmana Rajni Devi, Ex Chairman Municipal Committee Bari Brahmana Raman Gupta besides Sarpanchs, Panchs and Corporators.