Nagrota: The central leadership will have to take “one or more steps” than Pakistan to “apply balm on the wounds” of Kashmiris, Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti said on Monday and hoped that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will use his mandate to save the lives and future of children of Kashmir.
“I met Prime Minister recently. I have full hope that the mandate and power he has, he (PM) will use that power to save the lives and future of children of Kashmir,” she said here while speaking at inauguration of building of Food Craft Institute.
“May be we have to take one or more steps than our neighbouring country (Pakistan) as Jammu and Kashmir is our state and we have to apply balm on wounds of the people,” she added.
“To apply balm on the wounds of the people of Jammu and Kashmir, not only the Prime Minister or NDA government but the entire leadership of the country, Congress, CPI(M), JDU etc should come forward and support the peace building initiative,” Mehbooba said.
She said Modi has the mandate to take bold decisions on the lines of Atal Bihari Vajpayee for the resolution of the problems in and around Jammu and Kashmir.
We have to ensure that a credible mechanism for dialogue, reconciliation and resolution is put in place and it should not be like the half-hearted efforts made in similar situations after 2008 and 2010 unrest, she said and called for creating conducive atmosphere for dialogue.
“Threads need to be picked up from where these were left by former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 2005, when a serious effort was made both on external and internal fronts to resolve the Kashmir issue through a credible and meaningful dialogue and confidence building process,” the Chief Minister said while addressing a function organised here in connection with handing-over of appointment orders under SRO-43 to next of kin of the employees of Jammu division who died in harness, to meet the objective of compassionate support.
Also present on the occasion were Minister for Health and Medical Education, Bali Bhagat, Minister for Finance, Culture, Labor and Employment, Dr Haseeb A Drabu and Minister for Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs, Chowdhary Zulfkar Ali.
The Chief Minister, on this occasion, handed-over orders of compassionate appointment under SRO-43 to 108 beneficiaries from 10 districts of Jammu division, including 47 from Jammu, five from Reasi, nine from Kathua, 11 from Udhampur, 10 from Poonch, seven from Samba, four from Kishtwar, three from Ramban, eight from Rajouri and four from Doda.
Earlier, the 106 appointment orders under SRO-43 in respect of Kashmir division were distributed at a similar function in Srinagar last week.
The Chief Minister hailed the people of Jammu region for maintaining peace and harmony despite repeated provocations by various disruptive elements.
Referring to SRO-43 cases, the Chief Minister said that many appointment cases on compassionate grounds were pending due to various reasons over a long time. “However, the Government is committed to attend to all these cases on priority and has laid special emphasis on their timely finalization,” she said and added that some cases were also cleared through one-time relaxation of rules to absorb children of those who had died in harness.
Mehbooba said the Chief Secretary has been personally monitoring the progress of these cases while as the Principal Secretary to CM and the concerned departments are working on war-footing to finalize the cases of compassionate appointment. “We have been working hard to bring down the pendency of these cases and the concerned officers have been asked to attend to all pending cases on account of compassionate appointment on priority,” she said and added that the beneficiaries should get the benefit without further delay. Addressing the beneficiaries, the Chief Minister said that she hoped that after appointment to the Government job they shall remain committed and be driven by the thought that how can they contribute at their own level. “You should come up to expectations, remain dedicated and be responsible towards the assigned tasks”, she said.
It was informed on the occasion, that the joining period of 21 days for all those who were handed over the appointment letters shall be considered to commence from today and a circular to this effect will also be issued by General Administration Department.
Pertinently, distribution of compassionate appointment orders for Kashmir division was organized last week at Srinagar, where such appointment orders were given away to 106 NoKs of employees who had died in harness.
Chief Secretary, B.R Sharma, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister, Navin K Choudhary, Divisional Commissioner Jammu, Dr Pawan Kotwal, Deputy Commissioner Jammu, Simrandeep Singh and other senior officers were also present on the occasion.