STATE TIMES NEWS
JAMMU: National Conference on Saturday strongly reacted to shelving of Artificial Lake project in Jammu, saying that governments does not function at the whims and fantasies of individuals.
In a joint statement, senior party leaders took exception to the statement of Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed and wondered how the feasibility of the project can be questioned now when executing agencies remain the same.
“By change of government, the technicalities of developmental projects does not change”, they said adding that expertise of engineers, who conceived and implemented the lake project cannot be undermined just casually. They said over Rs 59 crore have been spent on this project and that cannot be allowed to spill down the drain.
National Conference leaders said that taking up of the lake project was a conscious decision of the Omar led government which reflected deep yearning of the people who wanted to have a hangout place within the city precincts. “Shelving of this project is a huge snub to the people of Jammu who crave for development”, they said while taking jibe at BJP for crying hoarse over the so-called discrimination with the region. By abandoning the project, the Coalition Government has proven that it cares two hoots for the public sentiment. “They are devoid of political wisdom and lack the capacity of taking along people of all the three regions”, the NC leaders regretted.
“The Coalition Government lacks vision and commitment, which is why authoritarian decisions are taken at the whims of some influential politicians within the government”, they said and cautioned the administration in going against will of the people. They said National Conference won’t allow dictatorial policies to succeed which undermine the urges and aspirations of the three regions of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh.
The National Conference leaders accused the coalition partners of pursuing contradictory agenda as a result of which the people of the State were finding themselves at the cross roads. “They have absolutely no idea where they are proceeding”, they said, adding this has terribly impacted the governance. The bureaucracy is finding itself in quandary because of divergence in the policies of the PDP and BJP. They said the two parties were under the shadow of contradictory agendas which has cast uncertainty over the projects taken up for overall good of the people by the previous government.
The signatories to the joint statement included Provincial President Devender Singh Rana, Senior State Vice President Surjeet Singh Slathia, former Minister Ajay Sadhotra, State Vice Presidents Rattan Lal Gupta and Th Rachpal Singh, Babu Rampal, Bimla Luthra, Provincial Secretary Sheikh Bashir Ahmed, Abdul Gani Malik, Satpal Lakhotra and Provincial President Youth National Conference S.S Bunty.
