SRINAGAR: Jammu Kashmir Apni Party (JKAP) vice president Zaffar Iqbal Manhas on Saturday expressed gratitude to the Lt. Governor of J&K over the formal announcement on relaxation in the upper age limit for civil services aspirants of Jammu and Kashmir.
Addressing a presser at the Party office in Lal Chowk Srinagar, Manhas also thanked Apni Party President Syed Mohammad Altaf Bukhari for highlighting and vigorously pursuing the matter with the J&K government which yielded the desired results.
AP vice president remarked: “I along with my Party colleagues welcome this beneficial measure that has safeguarded the future of our young aspirants who earlier were drowned in utter despair. I thank the Lt. Governor for this much needed initiative and our Party President who persistently impressed upon the government for increasing the age bar in civil service examinations.”
Referring to the problems of people that have surfaced due to the continuous closure of the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway, Manhas said the condition at the National Highway remains deplorable almost every year.
“The pace at which repairs of this only land connectivity between the two capitals Srinagar and Jammu are carried out is not up to the expectations of the people. Thus the situation that has emerged particularly in Kashmir division has shot up the prices of essential commodities mixed with unlawful hoarding and black marketing,” he regretted.
Manhas said the people had not yet coped up with the damage caused by the recent heavy snowfall but now they must face this excruciating situational inflation, which is extremely unfortunate on part of the lackadaisical administration.
“The government agencies that should have held such self-interested opportunists accountable remain evasive from ground” Manhas said, further voicing serious concern over the introduction of new rules for procurement of ration that makes Aadhaar Card verification mandatory.
He said, “An abrupt Aadhar card mandatary for ration procurement is implausible. The administration should have prepared the people before taking such a big move. Arbitrary decisions like this can’t be taken overnight while pertinent to mention a large section of the population in Srinagar remains still deprived of Aadhar cards. I implore the U.T administration to kindly review the recent regulations and stretch out a lenient approach for at least six months so that no trouble is faced by the people while obtaining monthly rations.”
Manhas also expressed serious concerns over the rolling out of new Forest Act and the committees thus formed. “The conservation of forests is a must but in the meantime no arbitrary decisions should be implemented that will hurt the interests of the common citizens. We have seen large chunks of such land have already been bequeathed to the Army, Sheep Husbandry and other government departments. If the same has been acquired by ST, SC and the rest of the people, it should make no difference. People have lived in now-declared forest zones for decades and evicting them capriciously is sheer injustices. The committees thus formed should incorporate representative members from such sections who have lived in these zones for so many years,” he pleaded.
On the Hokersar-Srinagar encounter, Manhas reiterated his Party’s stand on the matter and appealed to the government to come up with the factual details related to this incident.
He said, “We are crystal clear about this issue. Yesterday evening, even our Party President raised this issue with the Lt. Governor in Jammu. We are committed over the impartial investigation of this encounter. The parents of all three slain youth have repeatedly pleaded their innocence and if such a thing is true we will demand for an exemplary punishment to the perpetrators”.
Manhas said that in the aftermath of recent snowfall the interiors of the city and far-flung areas of the Kashmir division are still snow-clad. “The special arrangements must be done to ferry stranded tourists, patients, students and locals who want to commute between the two capitals. The essential supplies in winter capital are dwindling while inflation has become a rule. The Division administration, especially Divisional Commissioner and respective Deputy Commissioners should take stock of the situation on immediate basis,” he concluded.
