Samba March 15 (KNS): : Apni Party on Friday staged a peaceful protest demonstration, demanding holding of Legislative Assembly Elections and restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir to mitigate the issues of the masses.
The protest march was led by Provincial President of the Party, and Former Minister, S. Manjit Singh at Ramgarh. The demonstration was organized by District President Legal Cell, Samba, Adv Sahil Bharti.
To highlight the issues being confronted by the people, the Party leaders under the leadership of S. Manjit Singh took out a protest march while shouting slogans in support of their demands.
The protesters demanded that the public issues have multiplied with the non-serious approach of the authorities, especially because there is no elected Govt.
“The Election Commission of India should announce holding of Legislative Assembly Elections in Jammu and Kashmir which have been delayed for the last several years,” said Manjit Singh, addressing the Party’s protesting leaders, and other workers in Ramgarh who were holding placards in support of their demands.
While seeking restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir, he said that “The bureaucracy is not working in public interest, and the people have lost their voice in the Govt that has given rise to the feeling of alienation and widened the gap between public-administration.”
As the sloganeering continues, he pointed out about the plight of the refugees/Displaced Persons whose issues remain unaddressed regarding the release of pending package amount and granting of ownership rights on the land allotted to them by the Govt.
He said that the Govt of India should release the pending package amount Rs 25 lakhs in favour of each refugee/DP family in Jammu and Kashmir, out of total, Rs 5.5. that has already been released for these families.
“We fail to understand why the sanctioned amount for the financial support of the refugees/DPs has not been released,” he said, while demanding its immediate release.
He also demanded that the refugees/ DPs should be granted proprietary rights over the allotted Custodian and Govt land in Jammu and Kashmir.
“These refugees/DPs were settled in these lands by the respective Govts following their displacement from their own properties in 1947, 1965 and 1971,” he said.
He also demanded on the spot a special recruitment drive for the unemployed youth in border villages in police, paramilitary and Indian Army.
In his address, he also highlighted the issues of farmers who demanded canal water up to the tail-end villages in Ramgarh, round the clock electricity, clean drinking water supply, waiving of KCC loan in favour of the farmers.
The protest march concluded peacefully in the town. Prominent among the participants include District President, Samba, Raman Thappa, Provincial Vice President, Jammu, Ex-MLA Faqir Nath, SC State President, Bodh Raj Bhagat, Vice President, Women Wing, Neelam Gupta, Provincial Secretary, Sheetal Sharma, Vice President District, Ram Lal Sharma, District President Women Wing, Priyanka Mangota, Block President, Ramgarh, Bachan Choudhary, Block President Vijaypur, Dr Mohan Lal Sharma, General Secretary SC (ex-Sarpanch) Capt. Joginder Lal, Provincial President, SC Wing, Lovely Mangol, Youth President Samba, Mangat Ram, Senior Vice President Jammu Urban, Vaibhav Mattoo, ex-Sarpanch, Raika, Gurjeet Singh, Ex-Sarpanch Nanga, Manjit Singh, Ex-Sarpanch, Khanpur Bachan Singh, and others.(KNS)