Srinagar: Apni Party president, Syed Mohammad Altaf Bukhari, has said that the Back to Villages programme launched by the J&K government, now on third time, makes no sense in absence of a robust redressal mechanism that could have yielded the desired results.
Addressing a meeting of prominent party workers from Chrar-e-Shareef Budgam, at the party office in Lal Chowk Srinagar, Bukhari said that most of the public grievances recorded from rural areas across Jammu and Kashmir during last two phases of this programme are yet to be redressed, a party spokesman said in a statement.
“Reports suggest that notes taken by the officers during the last two phases of the Back to Village programme are missing in various government offices. This programme has virtually become a picnic for many officers and in a way has lost its sheen and purpose,” spokesman quoted Bukhari as saying.
The spokesman said that Bukhari stated that in most of the cases the officers have not followed up with their subordinates in the field to fulfill their assurances and promises made during the last two stages of this programme.
“People have no faith in such programmes because the administration has failed to keep its commitments. Before initiating the third phase of this prorgramme, the present dispensation should have taken a review on action taken on the commitments made by the officers in the past,” Bukhari added according to the spokesman.
He said J&K especially its rural area are stuffed with the problems related to the basic amenities, such as roads, drinking water, electricity, transportation, ATM facilities, ration distribution, animal husbandry, and veterinary and the Back to Villages programmes have hardly made any difference sofar.
Bukhari said the unresponsive approach of the administration in J&K has turned these programmes into cosmetic measures resulting into extreme disappointment and alienation among the public, said the spokesman.
The spokesman said that Bukhari emphasized on the party workers to reach out to the people and put in all efforts to facilitate redressal of their sufferings.
“All of us in the Apni Party have devoted ourselves to the public services so we should not leave any stone unturned to help people in our respective areas. Apni Party workers are my eyes and ears and I would always like you to be on the forefront when it comes to the redressal of public grievances,” spokesman quoted him saying.
The meeting was also addressed by Party senior vice president Ghulam Hassan Mir and several other leaders, spokesman said.
