BISHNAH, APRIL 15 (KNS): Apni Party President Syed Mohammed Altaf Bukhari on Friday appealed to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi to implement Mandal Commission Report in favour of Other Backward Class (OBC) community and regularize all the daily wagers in Jammu and Kashmir.

Addressing One Day OBC Community’s Active Workers Convention in Bishnah which was organized by OBC State Coordinator Madan Lal Chalotra, Altaf Bukhari hoped that during his visit to Samba District, the PM Modi shall announce the implementation of the Mandal Commission Report in toto in favour of OBC people under which they would be able to get 27% reservation in J&K like rest of the states in the country.

This reservation has been denied to the OBC people in J&K for decades and the various political parties used this community as a vote bank but did not fulfill their promises.

In view of the visit of the Prime Minister, he hoped that the long demands of the people should be accepted.

With regard to the suffering of the people which have multiplied in last three years, he said that the BJP has implemented its manifesto by scrapping the special status of J&K and a perception was created that the constitutional protection to the erstwhile State was a stumbling block while referring to development and employment.

“Has anything changed in these years in Jammu?” he asked the people in the OBC Convention and they replied that nothing has changed but the problems have been added to their daily life with increased unemployment, grab of natural resources by outsiders, price rise of the natural resources, sand, stones etc.

Nothing has changed despite direct rule of BJP in J&K, he said and added that the development is nowhere on the ground and the political party has failed to deliver as per the assurances it made with the public.

He said that unscheduled power cuts have increased up to 16 hours in Jammu during summers and it is causing great inconvenience to the people. Similarly, the Govt has not been able to handle the growing unemployment in J&K. The issues of over 1 lakh daily wagers still remain unaddressed and hoped that their demand for regularization would be accepted during the visit of the Prime Minister.  

He also highlighted concerns of Anganwadi workers, PHE daily wagers, Tourism Sector employees, agriculture department and other employees whose demands are still to be accepted.

He also expressed his serious concern over the grabbing of natural resources by the outsiders in J&K which has given rise to the rates of the construction material to an unexpected level.

“The people have complaints about the price rise of construction material and essential commodities. Therefore, we hope that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would address all these issues being faced by the people in Jammu as well as Kashmir,” he said addressing the gathering at the One Day Worker’s Convention in Bishnah.

He said that “The PDD lineman died while performing his duty yet their demands remain unheard. We expect that their issues will also be taken into consideration.”

He said that the people are fed up with the present form of Govt in J&K as the bureaucracy has lost confidence of the people and connection with the people in absence of an elected Govt.

He also demanded that the Govt should restore the statehood and democratic system in J&K.

Meanwhile, Senior Vice President Apni Party, Ghulam Hassan Mir also spoke on the occasion when he said that “Granting constitutional rights in the shape of reservation to the backward section of society is the important aspect and the BJP was projecting Art 370 as an stumbling block for granting 27 % reservation to the OBC people.”

Mir questioned why the reservation is not provided adequately to the OBC for their upliftment.

“Politics was done to divide and create differences between Jammu region and Kashmir region. However, the Apni Party will bring change by making the erstwhile State into a new Jammu and Kashmir,” he said.

While speaking on the occasion, State General Secretary, Vikram Malhotra said that “The OBC community were not provided their rights, instead the traditional political parties were used as vote banks. After the scrapping of the special status, the OBC supported BJP and they came to power yet their demand for reservation i.e., 27% was not implemented. It is time for the people of Jammu to come in support of Apni Party so that their long pending can be implemented.”

He said that “It is the responsibility of the political parties to fight for the rights of the Jammu Dogras which also comprises OBC.” 

He also highlighted the price rise of essential commodities and construction material. He said that an attempt is being made to mislead the people with false slogans but the BJP may not be able to befool again to the people of Jammu as the voters have an alternative in the shape of Apni Party.

Similarly, Provincial President, Jammu Manjit Singh said that “The OBC community should be given its rights and the discrimination must end. A commission was constituted by the Govt but that commission failed to submit its report. Hence, we demand submission of the commission’s report on OBC as soon as possible.”

He said that the OBC people are working in different fields and they face real hardship in their life and called upon the people to unite and come forward in support of the Apni Party.

“We assure the OBC Community that if we come to power we will grant 27% reservation to them in J&K,” he said. Meanwhile, he highlighted that the people of Jammu will be given 500 units free electricity during summers and 300 units in winters and similarly, 500 units electricity will be provided during winters and 300 units in summers in Kashmir valley.

He also highlighted various other welfare schemes and agenda which the Apni Party wants to implement if it comes to power. He criticized BJP for its failure in fulfilling the rights of the people of J&K.

“We are fighting to defend the rights of jobs, land and natural resources for the locals,” he added.

Apni Party Women Wing President, Namrta Sharma also addressed the One Day OBC Active Worker’s Convention and asked the people to bring change in the politics of Jammu and Kashmir by supporting the Apni Party.

Namrta expressed concern over the downgrading of J&K into a Union Territory and division of J&K into two UTs i.e., J&K and Ladakh UTs.

Meanwhile, OBC State Coordinator, Madan Lal Chalotra highlighted various problems faced by the OBC community in J&K and asked them to unite and support the Apni Party.

Prominent among Ex-MLA Faqir Nath, Raman Thappa, Arun Chibber, Dr Rohit Gupta, Choudhary Farooq Khayal, Kulwant Singh, Saleem Choudhary, Ajaz Kazmi, Raqeeq Ahmed Khan, Darshan Mehra, Shabir Kohli, Raj Kumar Sharma, Vipul Bali, Adv Vikram Rathore, Sohan Singh Soni, Pavneet Kour, Rupali Rani, Anirudh Vasist, Shivam Choudhary, Surdeesh Raina, Ashraf Choudhary, Gourav Sharma, Kirpal Singh, Karishan Singh, Satpal Verma, Ex-Captain Gurmeet Singh, Kulvinder Singh, Sonu Khasav, Babu Ram Bhagat, Jasvir Singh, Pushap Raj, Bharat Bhushan, Ex Sarpanch Bachan Singh, Joginder Singh,  Jalaj Choudhary and others.(KNS)