India
Thirty months on, PDP and BJP have proved critics wrong on the administration front
Updated : Nov 13, 2017, 08:09 AM IST
When the People's Democratic Party (PDP) joined hands with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to form the coalition government in J&K in March, 2015, the then chief minister, late Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, summed up the coming together of the ideologically opposite parties as 'North Pole meeting the South Pole'. The critics dismissed the alliance as opportunistic and fragile, and predicted its fall sooner than later.
Two-and-a-half years on, however, the Green and the Saffron continue to tango in the restive state, without any major divisive issue .
"Nobody thought we will survive for three years. It has happened. There has been no major issue between the PDP and the BJP. Action has started on most points mentioned in the Agenda of Alliance (AOA), " says Dr Haseeb A Drabu, J&K Minister for Finance and the architect of AOA.
Setting aside their political ideologies, the two divergent parties agreed on AOA, a governance mantra, to run the coalition for six years. The two parties not only managed the alliance very well, but have also been able to give a new direction to the development process.
Dark clouds of uncertainty hovered over the alliance when Mufti Mohammad Sayeed passed away in 2016. A political vacuum was created and the state was placed under the Governor's rule. Then Mehbooba Mufti decided to take the plunge and become the first woman chief minister of the state.
Mehbooba's journey, however, was not smooth. A five-month separatist-sponsored agitation, following the killing of Hizbul Mujhadeen (HM) leader Burhan Wani on July 8, last year, sent the state into turmoil. Yet, she braved it all and silenced her critics by her perseverance and the governance mantra.
Now, for the first time, the state has enough funds, and believe it or not, is facing the unique question of how to utilise this money. Unprecedented road network, bridges, hospitals, schools — the state is on a high of development agenda. The Rs 80,000 Prime Minister Developmental Package (PMDP) has made this difference.
Under the PMDP, 63 projects have been taken up by 15 Union ministries through 39 executing agencies. Of these, nearly 80 per cent of the projects stand formally sanctioned. Of the total outlay, Rs 21,988 crore has been released under the package and five projects have already been completed. As many as seven projects are likely to be completed soon.
Of the works in progress, 22 major road projects in the state include some big-ticket plans, such as semi-ring road projects for Srinagar and Jammu, Kargil-Zanaskar road, and the Udhampur-Ramban and Ramban-Banihal stretches of the National Highway, which are in various stages of completion.
The IIM in Jammu has started functioning from its transit accommodation, with an off campus at Narkara in Budgam. Similarly, the Jammu IIT has also started functioning and the process of raising infrastructure for the two institutes has also been started. Besides, under Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT), the detailed project reports of 56 out of 59 projects have been approved, and 27 of them have been started.
Under the Himayat programme, a target of training more than one lakh youths in the coming five years has been fixed. Similarly, indoor stadium are being constructed at 10 district headquarters.
Among the 11 projects to be taken up for execution include some ambitious ones, such as the Rs 5,100 crore Jammu-Akhnoor-Poonch road project, the Rs 1,800 crore Srinagar-Shopian-Qazigund road project, Rs 2,700 crore, 105 km connectivity project for various tourist destinations, and the Zojila tunnel project.
"Under the present dispensation, the state has received substantial funding from the Centre. With an expansion in the existing road network, the state is witnessing notable growth and development in different spheres," said Sham Lal Choudhary, J&K Minister for PHE, Irrigation and Flood Control.
As per the National Family Health Survey (NFHS), the mother and child health indicators in the state have improved in 2016-17, and are relatively better than the national average. This has been possible due to effective monitoring and dedicated efforts by the staff at various levels.
Besides, five new medical colleges with 90 per cent funding by the Central government are coming up in the state within the next two years. The move will not only improve the overall health scenario in the state, but will also add 500 more medical seats, thereby generating employment for hundreds of technocrats. These colleges will be established at Anantnag, Baramulla, Kathua, Rajouri, and Doda, at a cost of Rs 189 crore each.
To strengthen the health services, the government of India has also sanctioned two AIIMS for Jammu and Kashmir, for which the process of acquisition of land and other necessary formalities have begun. The estimated cost of each institution has been worked out to be Rs 2,000 crore, with an intake capacity of 100 seats. These two prestigious institutions will not only cater to patients from J&K, but also from the neighbouring states, such as Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, and other parts of the country.
For the benefit of cancer patients, the government of India has sanctioned two state-level cancer institutes, to be constructed at a cost of Rs 120 crore each.
J&K has also emerged as one of the few states to have gone into an overdrive to create massive assets under the MNERGA scheme. Shunning the tradition of constructing lanes and drains, the Rural Development Department has effectively switched over to asset creation and numerous structures of public importance have been created.
During the last fiscal, 875 foot bridges, 1,023 culverts, 20,699 link roads, 2,247 ponds, 1,362 check dams, 2,680 gabion structures, 1,201 water harvesting tanks, 10 fisheries ponds, and 26 Anganwadi centers were constructed, and 2,659 traditional water bodies were renovated.
Moreover, 227 play fields were developed, 245 panchayat ghars and 7,074 IHHLs were constructed, 788 livelihood support works (goat shelter, cattle shelter, composite pits etc.), 7,585 micro irrigation works and 977 de-sliting works were completed under the MGNREGA during 2015-16.
Similarly, during 2016-17, as many as 11.70 lakh job cards were issued, 312.68 lakh man-days were generated under MGNREGA, and 446 foot bridges, 381 culverts, 8,713 link roads, 29 check dams, 319 gabion structures, 3,140 water harvesting tanks, and 175 ponds were constructed, while 1,334 traditional water bodies were renovated.
Besides, 96 play fields were developed, 4 fisheries ponds, 14 Aganwadi centers, 170 Panchayats ghars, and 1,552 IHHLs were constructed under MGNREGA, while 109 livelihood support works (goat shelter, cattle Shelter, composite pits etc.), 2,706 micro irrigation works, and 253 de-silting works were completed.
"The social security and the basic facilities for the poor, besides good governance, are the priorities of the government, for which a vigorous campaign has been launched throughout the state," said Ajay Nanda, J&K Minister of State for Finance and Planning.
In the last two-and-a-half years, J&K has added many firsts to its credit. It has emerged as the first state in the country to change the budget classification, the first state to move to January budget to allow people to spend more, the first state to have announced abolition of treasuries, and the first state to move to the new system of pay-in accounts.
But, the highlight of this coalition government has been the appointment of Special Representative, Dineshwar Sharma, by the Centre to initiate dialogue with all stake holders in J&K. The talks with all stakeholders was high on AoA and with the appointment of Sharma, the government says that this clause has been fulfilled.
"The appointment of former Intelligence Bureau chief Dineshwar Sharma as the special representative reflected what the Prime Minister had said on Independence Day — "neither 'goli' (bullets) nor 'gaali' (abuses) can solve the Kashmir issue and it can only be addressed by embracing Kashmiris," said Naeem Akhtar, J&K Minister for Public Works and official spokesperson of the state government.