EARLY TIMES REPORT
JAMMU, Aug 14: The stoic silence, so far, maintained by the so called champions of Jammu cause over the decision of government to abolish “Self Help Groups”, has signaled towards their implicit support to anti-youth decisions as well as translation of developmental claims into action in Jammu and Kashmir. The Union Territory administration vide order No. 752-JK(GAD) of 2020, dated 10-08-2020 had decided to abolish 30 percent quota of the Self Help Groups of unemployed engineers in J&K UT. The decision is likely to affect over 15000 engineers who have been earning bread and butter in the state. Most of the political parties have expressed their reservations over the decisions and have appealed the government to review the decision but most of the Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) leaders especially its most vocal leader, whose speech didn’t complete without naming Pakistan, has so far remained silent on the issue. “Since the time BJP had started making claims of bringing development to Jammu and Kashmir, these claims have been translated into anti-youth as well as anti-people decisions of the administration”, a youth said, adding that either it was installation of toll-plazas in Jammu region, privatization of power sector, abolition of engineering wing in various departments, scanty recruitments, scrapping of selection list of JK Bank executives, withdrawal of several posts, increasing the time-period of probation of government employees, registration of pets, increase of registration charge of vehicles, document registration charges, no increments to assistant professors beside others. The youth further said that instead of giving the benefits of Union Territory such as reduction in the price of petrol, alcohol, no toll-plazas, benefits to employees beside others. “Very few government posts have so far been advertised by the administration while those advertised have put conditions for the highly qualified youth to fill the application forms. The claims of development as well as new jobs have been confined to speeches only while the BJP leaders are either in hibernation or issuing statements on irrelevant issues, which have nothing to do with the interests of masses as well as youth”, another youth said, adding that if the past one year performance of BJP has any indication, then it appeared that the future for youth as well as masses was not bright as claimed by the BJP leadership. |