Early Times Report
Jammu, Mar 15: Last week, the Estate Department served notices on former PDP and BJP Ministers asking them to vacate the Ministerial bungalows within one week. The notice asked them to vacate the official bungalows both in Jammu and Srinagar, as they were not entitled to live in such houses as they ceased to be Ministers on February 8, when the Governor brought the State administration under his own direct control a day after Chief Minister Mufti Sayeed left the world at AIIMS in New Delhi.
The Estate Department did what it was expected to do as per the rules and established norms. People had then also hoped that the political establishment or General Administration Department would also ask all the political appointees to put in their papers so that non-political persons could be appointed to man high offices. However, it has not happened till date. With the result, politicians belonging to the PDP and the BJP continue to hold high offices at the cost of the taxpayers' money.
Many politicians who were appointed by the PDP-BJP coalition Government chairmen and vice-chairmen the various Boards and Commissions even today hold the chairs and enjoy all perks and privileges, which Ministers enjoy. They should have put in their papers the day the State came under the Governor's rule, but they chose otherwise.
Those who have not put in their papers, according to a report from Srinagar, include Nayeema Mehjoor, chairperson State Commission for Women; Choudhary Zaffar Ali, Vice-Chairperson, Advisory Board for Development of Gujjars and Bakerwals; Kuldeep Raj Gupta, Vice Chairman Pahari Board; Nirmal Gupta, Vice-Chairperson Social Welfare Board; Bushan Lal Dogra, Vice-Chairperson Advisory Board for Scheduled Castes; and Daljit Singh, Vice-Chairman, Kissan Board. Nayeema Mehjoor, Choudhary Zaffar Ali and Buhshan Lal Dogra belong to the PDP and Nirmal Kamal, Kuldeep Gupta and Daljit Singh belong to the BJP.
In the meantime, a report suggests that the matter has been reffered to the State Governor, NN Vohra, who will take a final decision on the issue, which has attracted the attention of the general public. As for the BJP, it has made it loud and clear that the party has nothing to do with the issue and it is for the Governor to handle the issue. Interestingly, the BJP had not liked the decision of the Estate Department to serve notices on former BJP Ministers asking them to vacate the official bungalows. In fact, three BJP MLAs only the other day held a press conference to register the party's protest against the Estate Department. |
