Lack of robust redressal mechanism has rendered Back to Village prog meaningless : Altaf Bukhari

Srinagar/Oct,4: Apni Party president Syed Mohammad Altaf Bukhari has said that the Back to Villages programme launched by the J&K government, now on third time, makes no sense in absence of a robust redressal mechanism that could have yielded the desired results.
Addressing a meeting of prominent party workers from Chrar-e-Shareef Budgam, at the party office in Lal Chowk Srinagar, Bukhari said that most of the public grievances recorded from rural areas across Jammu and Kashmir during last two phases of this programme are yet to be redressed.
“Reports suggest that notes taken by the officers during the last two phases of the Back to Village programme are missing in various government offices. This programme has virtually become a picnic for many officers and in a way has lost its sheen and purpose,” Bukhari observed.
He stated that in most of the cases the officers have not followed up with their subordinates in the field to fulfill their assurances and promises made during the last two stages of this programme.
“People have no faith in such programmes because the administration has failed to keep its commitments. Before initiating the third phase of this prorgramme, the present dispensation should have taken a review on action taken on the commitments made by the officers in the past,” Bukhari added.
He said J&K especially its rural area are stuffed with the problems related to the basic amenities, such as roads, drinking water, electricity, transportation, ATM facilities, ration distribution, animal husbandry, and veterinary and the Back to Villages programmes have hardly made any difference sofar.
Bukhari said the unresponsive approach of the administration in J&K has turned these programmes into cosmetic measures resulting into extreme disappointment and alienation among the public.
Referring to the district Budgam and particularly to the Chrar-e-Shareef area, Bukhari said that this central Kashmir district has its own legacy and Apni Party would work to ensure a holistic development of this historic place.
He emphasized on the party workers to reach out to the people and put in all efforts to facilitate redressal of their sufferings. “All of us in the Apni Party have devoted ourselves to the public services so we should not leave any stone unturned to help people in our respective areas. Apni Party workers are my eyes and ears and I would always like you to be on the forefront when it comes to the redressal of public grievances,” he opined.
The meeting was also addressed by Party senior vice president Ghulam Hassan Mir, provincial president Mohammad Ashraf Mir, state secretary Muntazir Mohi-ud-Din, district president Srinagar Noor Mohammad Sheikh, district president Pulwama Ghulam Mohammad Mir, Syed Farooq Andrabi and Mushtaq Ahmad and others.