Law making has not to be only about the promises made in the election manifestos of the ruling and the opposition parties but about the public welfare and constitutional, institutional and administrative empowerment of the people of Jammu & Kashmir.
Amid high pitch noises about good governance the people in Jammu & Kashmir are not once again getting all that promised to them in last year’s assembly elections held after almost a decades for a Union Territory Assembly. Undoubtedly a dual power system has taken away the control of Chief Minister over law enforcement and transfer of All India Service Officers but nothing stops an elected Government of a Union Territory from fulfilling promises on basic social services like power, education, control over prices of essential commodities, Industrial entrepreneurship, recruitment in Government Departments and Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) and improvement in delivery of services in hospitals. After all it is the work culture in Government department but not the transfers of officers and officials which improves the development of infrastructural facilities, and delivery of public services in Jammu & Kashmir like any other State or Union Territory of the Country. Keeping themselves away from the basic motives of public welfare and public empowerment the ruling National Conference and the opposition parties particularly BJP, PDP, Peoples Conference and Awami Itehad Party (AIP) are unfortunately engaged in a war of words over liquor ban, regularisation of daily wagers and the property rights to people allotted state land for housing facilities in previous years. Such a politics of acrimonies and animosities won’t serve the bigger causes of public welfare and public empowerment at all. Shockingly both the ruling and the opposition parties share the honours for keeping unresolved the issues of liquor ban, regularisation of daily wagers and the property rights to people allotted state land for housing facilities during last several decades. Ahead of the UT assembly’s maiden budget session a consensus but not confrontation can lead to any agreement over all the three issues raised by the opposition parties. After all law making has not to be only about the promises made in the election manifestos of the ruling and the opposition parties but about the public welfare and constitutional, institutional and administrative empowerment of the people of Jammu & Kashmir.
“Agreements over liquor ban, regularisation of daily wagers and the property rights to people allotted state land for housing facilities in previous years leading to total disagreement among the ruling and opposition parties and unending pandemonium in the assembly shows that political parties don’t tend to empower people and decriminalise the society to lay the foundation for a strong and a stable Jammu & Kashmir in short near future. Political wisdom demands that both the ruling and the opposition parties put their heads together to push through some key legislations for empowering people of Jammu & Kashmir constitutionally, institutionally and administratively and dicriminalise the society for purposes of securing the future of the future generations of Jammu & Kashmir.”
Unfortunately the political parties denounce empowerment to people and instead paint a divisive colour to different legislative proposals only to create vote banks just to secure their own political future. Agreements over liquor ban, regularisation of daily wagers and the property rights to people allotted state land for housing facilities in previous years leading to total disagreement among the ruling and opposition parties and unending pandemonium in the assembly shows that political parties don’t tend to empower people and decriminalise the society to lay the foundation for a strong and a stable Jammu & Kashmir in short near future. Political wisdom demands that both the ruling and the opposition parties put their heads together to push through some key legislations for empowering people of Jammu & Kashmir constitutionally, institutionally and administratively and dicriminalise the society for purposes of securing the future of the future generations of Jammu & Kashmir.
Shafqat Bukhari
