Rajya Sabha on Monday passed the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill to merge Jammu and Kashmir cadre of IAS, IPS and IFS with the Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Mizoram, and Union Territory, or AGMUT, cadre.
Speaking during the debate, Minister of State for Home Affairs G. Kishan Reddy claimed that speedy development is happening in the region since the State was demoted to Union Territory in August 2019.
100% electrification
Mr. Reddy claimed that the region will be connected by train by December 2022 and will also have an elevated light rail system, which he said is in the planning stage. The Minister said that already 100% electrification has been achieved especially in the border villages. By September 2022, his government aims to provide 100% piped water coverage to rural households, , Mr Reddy added.
“Since the last two years, speedy development is happening in Jammu and Kashmir, when compared to the last 70 years. Both the Centre and the J&K government are trying to develop the region and will do more. Due to coronavirus, we could not reach the set target,” the Minister said in reply to a debate on the J&K Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill.
Success of civic polls
The municipal polls both in rural and urban civic bodies, Mr Reddy said, were the first step in this direction. Not only elections were held, local bodies were strengthened giving them the responsibility of midday meal scheme, Anganwadi programme and MGNREGA, he said, adding that grievances boxes were also installed in panchayats.
Stating that about 54% of work has been completed under the PM’s Development package for J&K, he said about 20 projects, including central and UT projects, have been executed. Eight more projects are likely to be completed by the end of the financial year, he said.
Opposition query
Initiating the debate, Leader of the Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad reminded the government that Home Minister Amit Shah had said turning J&K into a UT was only a temporary measure and that statehood will be restored soon.
“I want to ask Home Minister Amit Shah, if the present cadre was working well then what was the need to merge it? You had promised that statehood will be restored... But bringing this bill creates suspicion that GoI wants to keep J&K permanently a Union Territory,” Mr Azad said.
Contrary to all promises, no new industries have been set up in the region; instead the ones that were there have also been shut down, Mr Azad said.
“No new industry is coming up at present... Of the 12,997 industries in Jammu, only 5,890 are functional, while 7,160 i.e. 60% are closed... development remains stalled... It is only on TV and not on roads,” he said.
RJD’s Manoj K. Jha said the government claims of normalcy in J&K sound hollow.
“A lot of discussion is about normalcy in J&K. Normalcy should not be a rhetoric. It should be a reality. Let's hope the rest of the country doesn’t have to suffer under Kashmir-like normalcy,” he said.
