SRINAGAR : Jammu and Kashmir Apni Party (JKAP) senior leader and former minister Ghulam Hassan Mir on Thursday expressed deep concern over the governance deficit which has added to the sufferings of people in J&K.
Addressing a meeting of party workers from Batamaloo constituency at JKAP office Srinagar, Mir said the Lt. Governor’s rule can never be a replacement to an elected government.
“One of the most important roles of peoples’ representatives in a popular government is to promote greater responsiveness and accountability to citizens and reflecting citizens’ voice in local public service delivery. This important benefit of a democratic set up is presently missing in J&K,” he observed.
Mir said that the people across both the divisions of J&K are facing a lot of problems due to no-existence of an elected government.
“Since their plight is going unheard, the same has resulted in deep disenchantment and alienation among people.”
Stressing on the need for restoration of Statehood, the JKAP leader said the government of India as per its promise made by the union home minister on the floor of Parliament should restore the Statehood to J&K in order to address the growing disconnect between the people and the apparatus of governance.
The JKAP leader said that there is a general feeling among people of J&K about the absence of a credible voice that could take up their issues and get them sorted out. Mir said that JKAP believes in building bridges across the regions and sub regions in J&K so that this region touches new heights in socio economic development.
Expressing serious concern over the recent political killings in J&K, Mir said the political ecosystem of Kashmir needs to be safeguarded for the larger interests of democratic process in the region.
“The government must take concrete measures to address the issues and problems faced by the political activists who along with their families have become soft targets of mindless violence,” he added.
