BJP busy in celebrations, People of J&K suffering on all counts: Bhalla

03/08/2020

JAMMU, Aug 2: Former Minister and senior Congress leader Raman Bhalla on Sunday claimed rising number of fatalities due to deadly virus is a matter of serious concern for all. He said it would be a "disaster" if the administration failed to strictly enforce lockdown restrictions, especially in Kashmir, as it is the only solution as of now to contain the spread of the virus.He said Govt's first and foremost priority should remain protecting the life and health of people of J&K and must be fully aware of the emerging situation. He urged all those who have been given relaxation to fully abide by the standard operating procedures (SOPs) and not only enforce them on themselves but also generalize the same. "They should not entertain any customer coming without a face mask, hand gloves and making rush or congestion", he appealed.
This was observed by former Minister while interacting with deputation from Nai Basti area and Meenia Mohalla of Gandhi Nagar constituency led by S .Rajinder Singh Randhawa Gen Secretary DCC( urban Jammu who approached him to address water crisis in the area as main Tubewell supplying drinking water to locals has been defunct for the last more than 15 days and they are facing serious water shortage in the area as despite bringing the issue into kind notice of Administration, nothing has been done in this regard. Moreover no effort is being made to supply water from other sources.He disclosed that during Congress Govt tenure, with commissioning of a number of water supply schemes in the Gandhi Nagar constituency, people started getting safe and hygienic drinking water"Apart from this, around 25 tube-wells were installed in various localities of the constituency to overcome water- crisis and electrification of number of areas in the constituency was done by getting a number of electric poles and transformers installed and upgraded", Bhalla said.
Rapping BJP, former Minister said that Manmohan Singh was easily blamed for inflation during UPA rule, the present governments has failed to check the rising prices of essential commodities even after six years of rule. Coming down heavily on Union Govt, Bhalla sought to know whether the people voted the BJP to power at the Centre and in J&K to continue grappling with high inflation."Did the people vote the new government to power in Centre to let the monster called inflation sit on people's chests and continue to wreak havoc? Will the prices of essential commodities continue to increase? What the about the economy of the country?" Bhalla asked. Government has increased the Value Added Tax (VAT) on petrol and diesel, which will in turn raise transport costs, and ultimately further increase the prices of foodstuffs, he said."It was easy to blame inflation on then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh while the UPA government was in power. It had become a hobby for people to make fun of Manmohan Singh.
But now the government has changed. Six years have passed, but the new government has failed to use its magic wand and ward off inflation," he said. People voted for a change to experience happiness, deflated costs of foodstuffs and for 'acche din' (good days).
But, high prices have raised the worries of the people," Bhalla said.
Ridiculing the BJP for celebrating 'first anniversary' of abrogation of Article 370 and Article 35-A in a big way at a time of crisis, Bhalla said it is like rubbing salt on the wounds of Jammu people. People are asking questions about false promises of BJP leaders on uprooting toll plazas", and are against non-serious leaders of J&K BJP who have failed to come up-to the expectations of the people. There was a feeling among people that BJP leaders betrayed the people on many issues. The dismantling of Jammu and Kashmir's edifice into two separate Union territories was criticized as a blatantly unilateral decision.He said not even a single drop of 20 lakh crore package reached to J&K.He asked the UT administration to come up with a pragmatic mechanism to address all the issues in tandem with the sentiments and emotions of the people of Jammu and Kashmir."
Absence of any authorised Government declaration on these sensitive issues coupled with rhetorical statements and assurances by Jammu-based BJP leaders on policy matters bereft of any constitutional authority have lead to confusion and created apprehensions and misgivings in the minds of the locals of J&K particularly the youth," he said.

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