Governor’s Republic Day Message Effective establishment of rural and urban would be a milestone of J&K: Guv JAMMU, JAN 25: Governor, N. N. Vohra, Jammu and Kashmir, said that the establishment of Panchayati Raj and the corresponding devolutions in the arena of municipal administration would lead to the establishment of a decentralized democratic framework at the grass root level in the entire State. He observed that this shall provide an exciting opportunity for all our people living in the villages and towns to become closely and productively involved in planning and implementing various developmental schemes and programmes which promote their interests. Greeting the people on the 65th Republic Day, in a message, the Governor observed that effective establishment of rural and urban self-governing bodies in each of the three regions of the State would be a milestone in the governance of J&K. The Governor observed that the momentous elections to Panchayats, held after a gap of nearly three decades, had witnessed a turnout of 80% to elect about 33000 Panches and Sarpenches. He said “I have strongly believed and consistently stressed that the empowerment of the people at the grass root level and enabling Panchayats to effectively participate in the planning and implementation of development programmes would result in promoting the welfare of the entire rural population. I have been stressing that the conduct of elections to the Urban Local Bodies, which had been planned to be done a considerable time ago, and implementation of various pending institutional and taxation reforms, would result in invigorating the entire municipal administrative framework and go a long way in establishing a democratic self-governing framework in all the towns and cities”. He hoped that these very long awaited elections and other institutional reforms shall be carried out in the coming months”. Observing that the elections to the Parliament and the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly are scheduled to be held in the coming months, the Governor said that the electoral contests held in 2008 and 2009 and the Panchayat polls in 2011 had witnessed a very high turnout of the voters and hoped that the forthcoming polls shall see the maximum number of voters exercising their franchise. The Governor said that on the joyous occasion of our Republic Day we must pay tribute to our great national leaders who made enormous sacrifices to carry out a prolonged struggle for liberating our country from the colonial yoke. He said that many of these wise and visionary leaders also served as members of the Constituent Assembly and made invaluable contribution to the drafting of the Constitution of India which was adopted on this day in 1950. The Governor paid tribute to the State and the Central Police Forces and the Army for their unflinching devotion to duty and paid homage to the brave officers and men who laid down their lives to protect and preserve the country’s territorial integrity. The Governor said “our country has travelled a fairly long distance since Independence and the journey, on many occasions, has been quite difficult. Thanks to the devoted endeavours of our enlightened leaders in the initial years, significant strides were taken towards building the unity and integrity of the nation and imbuing our polity with strong secular foundations. , among the comity of nations, India is known and respected for being the largest representative parliamentary democracy which protects the freedom and dignity of every member of our heterogeneous societies”. The Governor observed that 65 years ago we had set out to build a nation which would secure social, economic and political JUSTICE to all its citizens and eradicate illiteracy, poverty and backwardness from our Motherland. While considerable progress has been achieved on varied fronts it is a matter for serious concern that, over the past years, divisive forces and fissiparous tendencies have started raising their heads in various parts of the country. He added that our societies are showing increasing intolerance and getting divided on the basis of religion and narrow linguistic, caste and other loyalties. As a consequence, we are witnessing religious and caste tensions and communal violence, which are generating an environment of turbulence. Side by side, there has been a progressive decline in our ethical codes and values in virtually every sphere and this has led to governance being marred by growing complaints of corruption, he said. The Governor said “notwithstanding the alarming bells from varied quarters it is our great good fortune that the democratic system is now deeply rooted and firmly established all across the country. Thanks to the revolution in information technology, our billion and a quarter people are politically conscious and aware of their democratic rights. This awakening has led to our citizens rightly demanding, more and more aggressively, the satisfaction of their various needs ― shelter, food, water, electricity, roads, schools, hospitals and employment”. The Governor observed that it is not unlikely that the winds of change blowing across the country would also influence the affairs of the people of Jammu and Kashmir and we may have to face varied challenges. Terrorism and militancy, which commenced in 1990, have resulted in large human and economic losses and caused prolonged miseries for the common man. The long period of unrest has also adversely affected the functioning of the administrative machinery and public institutions, and the erstwhile work culture and efficiencies have been seriously eroded. It is necessary to fill up this gap and regain the required momentum. As we are witnessing all around, the people at large are getting increasingly impatient and restive and are no longer willing to bear with defaults and deficiencies in the functioning of public delivery systems, much less accept the continuance of corrupt practices. The Governor observed that despite certain constraints, the State was able to achieve a growth rate of 6.14 percent during 2012-13, which is higher than the national average. However, for Jammu and Kashmir to forge ahead on a sustained basis we need to do much better and systematically tackle several serious challenges, particularly the problems of unemployment and the acute shortage of power in Jammu and Kashmir, he added. The Governor said “to address the unemployment problem a number of Centrally supported and State Government schemes are being implemented, among which are UDAAN, UMEED, HIMAYAT, Sher-e-Kashmir Employment and Welfare Programme for the Youth (SKEWPY), J&K Self-Employment Scheme and the Seed Capital Fund Scheme. In the rural sector, the Union Ministry of Rural Development is assisting the State to train rural youth for upgrading their skills and enhancing their employability. For this purpose, the Rural Self Employment Training Institutes (RSETIs) have been established in almost all the districts of the State. It is hoped that the effective implementation of all these schemes will result in very considerably reducing the number of unemployed youth in the coming time”. The Governor said that J&K is a large State with three distinct geographical regions, each of which has many areas with extremely difficult terrain and severe weather conditions and which get totally cut-off for nearly six months every year. If satisfactory growth and development is to be achieved, it is of crucial importance that all the three regions of the State and the various difficult areas in each region are well connected with a reliable network of roads, bridges and tunnels. In this context, it is a matter for considerable satisfaction that the historical Mughal Road, which will connect the Rajouri and Poonch areas with Kashmir Valley, has been almost completed; the 4-laning of the National Highway-1A is progressing at a steady pace and the National Railway Project, which shall provide rail connectivity between J&K and the rest of the country, is also making rapid progress. Across the Pir Panjal mountains a state-of-the-art all weather railway tunnel now connects the Kashmir Valley with the Jammu region and, early next month, the existing railway network will be extended from Udhampur to Katra, which would enable lakhs of pilgrims from the far corners of the country to travel by rail direct to the base town for the journey to Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine. Work on the Zojila tunnel to connect Kashmir Valley with the Ladakh region is also expected to commence this summer. All these projects are supported by the Government of India, he said. The Governor said “earlier this month, the Coalition Government completed five years of its tenure. I compliment Shri Omar Abdullah, our young Chief Minister, and all members of his Council of Ministers, on the work so far done and trust that extra special efforts would be put in this year to achieve several important objectives which could not be attained earlier”. He wished the Chief Minister and his team high success in their future endeavours. The Governor conveyed warm greetings and good wishes to the people of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh and prayed that the New Year, which has already dawned, shall bring sustained peace, normalcy and prosperity in all parts of the State. Following is the full text of the Governor’s Address: , as we celebrate our 65th Republic Day, I convey my greetings and good wishes to the people of Jammu and Kashmir. 2. On this joyous occasion, we must pay tribute to our great national leaders who made enormous sacrifices to carry out a prolonged struggle for liberating our country from the colonial yoke. Many of these wise and visionary leaders also served as members of the Constituent Assembly and made invaluable contribution to the drafting of the Constitution of India which was adopted on this day in 1950. 3. Our country has travelled a fairly long distance since Independence and the journey, on many occasions, has been quite difficult. Thanks to the devoted endeavours of our enlightened leaders in the initial years, significant strides were taken towards building the unity and integrity of the nation and imbuing our polity with strong secular foundations. , among the comity of nations, India is known and respected for being the largest representative parliamentary democracy which protects the freedom and dignity of every member of our heterogeneous societies. 4. 65 years ago we had set out to build a nation which would secure social, economic and political JUSTICE to all its citizens and eradicate illiteracy, poverty and backwardness from our Motherland. While considerable progress has been achieved on varied fronts it is a matter for serious concern that, over the past years, divisive forces and fissiparous tendencies have started raising their heads in various parts of the country. Our societies are showing increasing intolerance and getting divided on the basis of religion and narrow linguistic, caste and other loyalties. As a consequence, we are witnessing religious and caste tensions and communal violence, which are generating an environment of turbulence. Side by side, there has been a progressive decline in our ethical codes and values in virtually every sphere and this has led to governance being marred by growing complaints of corruption. 5. Notwithstanding the alarming bells from varied quarters it is our great good fortune that the democratic system is now deeply rooted and firmly established all across the country. Thanks to the revolution in information technology, our billion and a quarter people are politically conscious and aware of their democratic rights. This awakening has led to our citizens rightly demanding, more and more aggressively, the satisfaction of their various needs ― shelter, food, water, electricity, roads, schools, hospitals and employment. 6. While the FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS of the citizen, prescribed in the Constitution, provide the bedrock of our democratic system, it is indeed unfortunate that not even a miniscule percentage of our population is aware that our Constitution has also laid down ten DUTIES of the citizen ― the obligations of a democracy which every citizen is expected to discharge. 7. It is not unlikely that the winds of change blowing across the country would also influence the affairs of the people of Jammu and Kashmir and we may have to face varied challenges. Terrorism and militancy, which commenced in 1990, have resulted in large human and economic losses and caused prolonged miseries for the common man. The long period of unrest has also adversely affected the functioning of the administrative machinery and public institutions, and the erstwhile work culture and efficiencies have been seriously eroded. It is necessary to fill up this gap and regain the required momentum. As we are witnessing all around, the people at large are getting increasingly impatient and restive and are no longer willing to bear with defaults and deficiencies in the functioning of public delivery systems, much less accept the continuance of corrupt practices. 8. Despite certain constraints, the State was able to achieve a growth rate of 6.14 percent during 2012-13, which is higher than the national average. However, for Jammu and Kashmir to forge ahead on a sustained basis we need to do much better and systematically tackle several serious challenges, particularly the problems of unemployment and the acute shortage of power in Jammu and Kashmir. 9. To address the unemployment problem a number of Centrally supported and State Government schemes are being implemented, among which are UDAAN, UMEED, HIMAYAT, Sher-e-Kashmir Employment and Welfare Programme for the Youth (SKEWPY), J&K Self-Employment Scheme and the Seed Capital Fund Scheme. In the rural sector, the Union Ministry of Rural Development is assisting the State to train rural youth for upgrading their skills and enhancing their employability. For this purpose, the Rural Self Employment Training Institutes (RSETIs) have been established in almost all the districts of the State. It is hoped that the effective implementation of all these schemes will result in very considerably reducing the number of unemployed youth in the coming time. 10. The acute shortage of power in the State has not only thwarted the pace of optimum growth and development but also caused serious financial problems as the already overstrained exchequer has to bear the extra burden of about Rs. 2500 crore every year for the purchase of electricity from the National Grid. The State Government has been devoting high priority to enhancing power generation and, in the past five years, several projects have been launched which, on completion, are envisaged to generate 1400 mw of power. Side by side, several more projects are being finalised. The Government is also paying attention towards reducing transmission and distribution losses, which still continue to be unacceptably high. 11. J&K is a large State with three distinct geographical regions, each of which has many areas with extremely difficult terrain and severe weather conditions and which get totally cut-off for nearly six months every year. If satisfactory growth and development is to be achieved, it is of crucial importance that all the three regions of the State and the various difficult areas in each region are well connected with a reliable network of roads, bridges and tunnels. In this context, it is a matter for considerable satisfaction that the historical Mughal Road, which will connect the Rajouri and Poonch areas with Kashmir Valley, has been almost completed; the 4-laning of the National Highway-1A is progressing at a steady pace and the National Railway Project, which shall provide rail connectivity between J&K and the rest of the country, is also making rapid progress. Across the Pir Panjal mountains a state-of-the-art all weather railway tunnel now connects the Kashmir Valley with the Jammu region and, early next month, the existing railway network will be extended from Udhampur to Katra, which would enable lakhs of pilgrims from the far corners of the country to travel by rail direct to the base town for the journey to Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine. Work on the Zojila tunnel to connect Kashmir Valley with the Ladakh region is also expected to commence this summer. All these projects are supported by the Government of India. 12. Efforts are continuing to be made to further extend and improve the health and education sectors and to enhance the productivity of the agriculture, horticulture and industrial sectors. In the arena of governance several initiatives have been taken to enhance transparency and accountability, promote efficiency and to tackle corruption. If effectively implemented, these efforts should show early results. 13. Last year, on this day, I had referred to the momentous elections to Panchayats, after a gap of nearly three decades, which had witnessed a turnout of 80% to elect about 33000 Panches and Sarpanches. I have strongly believed and consistently stressed that the empowerment of the people at the grass root level and enabling the Panchayats to effectively participate in the planning and implementation of development programmes would result in promoting the welfare of the entire rural population. I have also been stressing that the conduct of elections to the Urban Local Bodies, which had been planned to be done a considerable time ago, and implementation of various pending institutional and taxation reforms, would result in invigorating the entire municipal administrative framework and go a long way in establishing a democratic self-governing framework in all the towns and cities. 14. As it has happened, the envisaged elections to establish Panchayati Raj and re-building the urban local self-governing system have not so far materialised. I very much hope that these very long awaited elections and other institutional reforms shall be carried out in the coming months. The establishment of Panchayati Raj and the corresponding devolutions in the Municipal Administration arena would lead to the establishment of a decentralised democratic framework at the grass root level in the entire State. This shall, as I have observed on several occasions earlier, provide an exciting opportunity for all our people living in the villages and towns to become closely and productively involved in planning and implementing various developmental schemes and programmes which promote their interests. The effective establishment of rural and urban self-governing bodies in each of the three regions of the State would be a milestone in the governance of J&K. 15. The repeated breach of the Cease Fire Agreement and continuing attempts at infiltration across the International Border and the Line of Control in the past year have yet again disrupted normalcy and caused varied problems for our people who live in villages along the border. It is hoped that our neighbour shall respond positively to the initiatives which have recently been taken by the Government of India to once again urge it to maintain calm. Needless to say, till a peaceful environment emerges our Security Forces shall continue to enforce eternal vigil along the frontiers without lowering their guard. 16. I take this opportunity of paying tribute to the State and Central Police Forces and the Army for their unflinching devotion to duty and pay homage to our brave officers and men who laid down their lives to protect the country’s territorial integrity. 17. Earlier this month, the Coalition Government completed five years of its tenure. I compliment Shri Omar Abdullah, our young Chief Minister, and all members of his Council of Ministers, on the work so far done and trust that extra special efforts would be put in this year to achieve several important objectives which could not be attained earlier. I wish the Chief Minister and his team high success in their future endeavours. 18. Elections to the Parliament and the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly are scheduled to be held in the coming months. The electoral contests held in 2008 and 2009 and the Panchayat polls in 2011 had witnessed a very high turnout of the voters. It is hoped that the forthcoming polls shall see the maximum number of voters exercising their franchise. 19. Before concluding, I once again convey my warm greetings and good wishes to the people of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh and pray that the New Year, which has already dawned, shall bring sustained peace, normalcy and prosperity in all parts of the State.
Posted on: Sat, 25 Jan 2014 15:10:43 +0000