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| ERA becomes the casuality | | | Bashir Assad
Early Times Report
Srinagar, Mar 31: As the government handed over the J&K Economic Reconstruction Agency (ERA) to a top bureaucrat, there is a fresh spotlight on the debate as to whether the technically sound local officers would continue to be sidelined at the crucial decision making and implementation levels.
The state government recently shook up the administration by ordering massive transfers at various levels, including the ERA chief.
ERA executing some major developmental projects funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) including the ambitious Rs 250 crore Jahangir-Chowk-Rambagh fly over, was on the fore front in disaster management during and after the devastating September 2014 floods.
Even though the state machinery, at that point of time was completely paralyzed, ERA played a pivotal role in dewatering and waste management. Its senior officers and engineers were undoubtedly the first to respond to the situation.
In execution of the Jahangir chowk-Rambagh flyover the officer would monitor the pace of work round the clock. It was for the first time in the history of Kashmir that work on a developmental project continued during the freezing temperatures of shivering Chila Kalan. The state government recently shifted the officer in a haste without giving it a serious thought. The term of the ADB loan is due to expire in December 2016. The sanctioned loan is around Rs 1000 crore. In Kashmir division projects worth Rs 400 crore are under execution while as in Jammu region there are projects worth Rs 600 crore under implementation.
The work on these projects continued on fast track despite the fact that the then chief minister, Omar Abdullah didn't have time to take a review meeting of the ERA. Now when the agency has been handed over to a top bureaucrat, the impression is that it is like, "kar e najar badast e gilkar. He is only holding the additional charge of the ERA and does not have time to look after the affairs of this agency. ERA insiders maintained that the former ERA CEO was taking pains in execution and implementation of works and would himself monitor the execution round the clock.
"The entire debate is about empowerment of the technically sound and dedicated officers from Jammu and Kashmir," says a senior government officer, insisting not to be named. "When you sideline the officers working with zeal, you are naturally disempowering them. And this disempowerment would obviously breed disillusionment and disappointment, which is a case in ERA today."
The officer said elbowing out a competent officer is sure to prove counterproductive. "There is a problem of disconnect that it breeds. The non-local officers mostly happen to be ignorant of the ground realities vis- a-vis governance, thus leading to governance deficit," the officer said. "They largely happen to draw projects, plans and policies from their offices, rather than taking inputs from ground."
"You have to exhaust the loan before December 2016 which is next to impossible if the ERA continues to be run by adhocism," said the officer. |
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