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Mufti completes one year in office
Srinagar, Nov 02: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed today completed his first year in office with a mixed bag as his government battled to implement several of the poll promises which brought him to power.
Srinagar, Nov 02: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed today completed his first year in office with a mixed bag as his government battled to implement several of the poll promises which brought him to power.
One of Sayeed's main poll planks was the disbanding of Special Operations Group (SOG) of local police because of widespread allegations of human rights violations against it and merge it with the regular force. But charges of its continuing existence keep pouring in.
"The SOG is as active as it was before the new government was formed. They are picking up persons at will and do not register an FIR for days together," said Ghulam Mohammad Wani, a resident of uptown Srinagar, who alleges that his son was taken into custody for three days without an FIR being registered and released only after approaching a ruling PDP MLA.
Another problem facing Sayeed government is how to provide one job per family as announced in PDP poll manifesto.
Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's announcement of creating one lakh jobs in Jammu and Kashmir in two years came as a major relief to Sayeed government but the appointment of 26,000 youth as teachers under 'Sarva Shikshya Abhiyan' (SSA) does not seem to go a long way to achieving that.
The government has made graduation as the minimum eligibility criterion for appointment as teacher under SSA but the monthly remuneration of Rs 1500 has generated disenchantment.
Maqbool, who was one of the teachers appointed under the scheme, said the money was far from being enough to sustain a family.
Seeking to reduce the fiscal deficit of power development department, the government had sought to revise load agreements to attain a collection target of Rs 800 crore for this year but was forced to roll it back following opposition party's criticism and mass outcry.,
The Chief Minister refutes charges that his government has ignored the urban areas' development and says several schemes have been initiated for development of the city like the modern shopping mall, new roads and the flyover.
On the issue of tackling corruption, the State Vigilance Organisation has been strengthened and accountability act passed in the state assembly but the government does not appear to have been able to met with significant success in checking the menace.
PDP president Mehbooba Mufti, after taking over the party reins in June this year, admitted that corruption was on the rise again after a brief lull.
"There was a brief lull in corruption when this government came to power but we have reports that it is picking up again. We are going to strengthen the vigilance," she said.
However, the Sayeed government can take credit on the progress made on the human rights front as cases of allegations about violations have come down sharply.
Against nearly a thousand cases of disappearance per year prior to the coalition government's rein, the number of enforced disappearances has come down to a few dozen this year.
The Chief Minister has claimed credit for the Centre's offer of talks to separatist Hurriyat Conference and friendship to Pakistan but it remains to be seen what results the proposed talks produce. Bureau Report
"The SOG is as active as it was before the new government was formed. They are picking up persons at will and do not register an FIR for days together," said Ghulam Mohammad Wani, a resident of uptown Srinagar, who alleges that his son was taken into custody for three days without an FIR being registered and released only after approaching a ruling PDP MLA.
Another problem facing Sayeed government is how to provide one job per family as announced in PDP poll manifesto.
Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's announcement of creating one lakh jobs in Jammu and Kashmir in two years came as a major relief to Sayeed government but the appointment of 26,000 youth as teachers under 'Sarva Shikshya Abhiyan' (SSA) does not seem to go a long way to achieving that.
The government has made graduation as the minimum eligibility criterion for appointment as teacher under SSA but the monthly remuneration of Rs 1500 has generated disenchantment.
Maqbool, who was one of the teachers appointed under the scheme, said the money was far from being enough to sustain a family.
Seeking to reduce the fiscal deficit of power development department, the government had sought to revise load agreements to attain a collection target of Rs 800 crore for this year but was forced to roll it back following opposition party's criticism and mass outcry.,
The Chief Minister refutes charges that his government has ignored the urban areas' development and says several schemes have been initiated for development of the city like the modern shopping mall, new roads and the flyover.
On the issue of tackling corruption, the State Vigilance Organisation has been strengthened and accountability act passed in the state assembly but the government does not appear to have been able to met with significant success in checking the menace.
PDP president Mehbooba Mufti, after taking over the party reins in June this year, admitted that corruption was on the rise again after a brief lull.
"There was a brief lull in corruption when this government came to power but we have reports that it is picking up again. We are going to strengthen the vigilance," she said.
However, the Sayeed government can take credit on the progress made on the human rights front as cases of allegations about violations have come down sharply.
Against nearly a thousand cases of disappearance per year prior to the coalition government's rein, the number of enforced disappearances has come down to a few dozen this year.
The Chief Minister has claimed credit for the Centre's offer of talks to separatist Hurriyat Conference and friendship to Pakistan but it remains to be seen what results the proposed talks produce. Bureau Report