Kishtwar, Jul 28 (KNS): Asserting that Chenab Valley is the worst sufferer of discrimination, Member Legislative Council Firdous Tak Saturday demanded creation of separate administrative division for the mountainous region in order to overcome development deficit.
“Like National Conference and Congress, Bhartiya Janta Party betrayed the mandate of Chenab Valley by surrendering to the Jammu based leadership. The interests of this region and its people have been sacrificed by the elected representatives plunging the region further into poverty and backwardness”, he said in a statement issued to KNS.
Tak was addressing day long party convention at Paddar in Kishtwar district. He was accompanied by District President PDP Sheikh Nasir Hussain, Sajad Ahmed Dev, Thakur Sujan Singh, Girdhari Lal, Haji Mohammad Iqbal, Rajesh Kumar, Gowswami Ram, Baldev Singh, Ved Raj, Satish Kumar and others.
The development of far off and backward areas was not possible in the present administrative structure, he said adding that divisional administration operating from Jammu city cannot reach out to the inaccessible areas. “A new structure has to be devised where sub regions shall be the new administrative units for overall development of the state”, he said.
Quoting examples the legislator said that despite being one of the largest district with regard to area and touching boundaries with Kashmir, Jammu, Himachal and Ladakh Kishtwar continues to get less than Rs 10 Crore per year for infrastructure development in the state capax budget.Click Here To Follow Our WhatsApp ChannelThis is around 40 per cent of what the other district in the plains of Jammu region gets”, he said.
Tak said that the Chenab region is one of the major contributors in the state revenue collection but in return it has received peanuts. “The state gets hundreds of crores as water cess from NHPC besides 2 per cent royalty on the power generation. The timber extracted from the region is sold in the entire region fetching crores to the state exchequer”, he said.
“One of the glaring examples of discrimination is the allocation of funds under CAMPA by forest department”, he said claiming, “The CVPP deposited Rs 450 crores as forest compensation with the state for its upcoming Pakal Dul Power Project. However, out of Rs 26 Crore earmarked for Jammu region last year, Chenab Circle got only Rs 4.53 Crores”.
He said that it was appropriate time for the political leadership of the region, cutting across the party lines, to come together and seek end to the discriminatory and step motherly treatment with Chenab valley. (KNS)