Don't hide your failures under the garb of statehood: Altaf Bukhari to CM Omar
Srinagar, Jul 10: Apni Party President Altaf Bukhari on Friday accused Chief Minister Omar Abdullah-led government of bringing development works in Kashmir to a standstill and using the demand for restoration of statehood to mask its governance failures. He also demanded a white paper on the utilisation of funds, alleging that nearly Rs 7000 crore had lapsed last year due to the government's inability to execute projects. Addressing a news conference in Srinagar, Bukhari said development activities across the Valley had virtually come to a halt despite more than half of Kashmir's limited working season already having passed. "In Kashmir, the working season lasts only from April till the end of September. More than 50 percent of this period has already lapsed, yet hardly any developmental work is taking place. Roads are in a terrible condition, other projects have also come to a standstill, and contractors are on strike. The government has not even moved to hold talks with them or understand their problems," Bukhari said. He alleged that the slowdown in development appeared to be "a well-planned conspiracy" against Kashmir and claimed that local contractors were being systematically discriminated against. Bukhari said essential construction materials like boulders, crushed stone, and sand had been leased out to outside contractors, who were selling them to local contractors at exorbitant prices. "On one hand, local contractors are denied legal access to raw material, while on the other hand contractors executing central government projects are being allowed to extract soil and construction material from rivers, streams, and mountains with extraordinary concessions. They are allotted multiple extraction sites and pay only nominal royalty, whereas local contractors are burdened with restrictions," he alleged. According to Bukhari, local contractors are allowed to procure raw material only from two designated locations, resulting in transportation costs that are nearly 50 percent higher than those incurred by outside contractors. He alleged that the administration was imposing conditions for clearing contractors' bills while simultaneously denying them access to legal sources of construction material. "Every day, a new order is issued saying bills will only be cleared after royalty receipts are produced. But how can local contractors produce royalty receipts when the government itself is not providing them legal sources for raw material? The facilities available to outside contractors are not extended to local contractors," he said. The Apni Party President also referred to the sharp increase in bitumen prices following the Iran-US conflict earlier this year, saying the price of bitumen had increased from around Rs 50,000 per unit to over Rs 1 lakh, making road construction significantly more expensive. "When the government is asked why developmental works are not progressing, it blames contractors for not participating in tenders. But how can contractors come forward when they have not been paid for works executed over the years? Contractors have been financially crippled," he said. Bukhari alleged that payments for several works executed since 2016 were still pending and said the government's failure to clear dues had discouraged contractors from taking up fresh projects. He also accused the government of compromising construction quality by removing the earlier requirement that contractors undertaking road construction must own plants and machinery. "There was a time when only contractors possessing proper plants and machinery were eligible for road works. That clause was removed merely to accommodate favoured people. We fully support quality construction, but quality can only be ensured when contractors have the necessary infrastructure. If a contractor does not even own a plant, how can quality be maintained?" Bukhari said. Launching a direct attack on CM Omar, Bukhari said the government should stop attributing every administrative failure to the delay in restoration of statehood. "CM Omar, don't hide your failures under the garb of statehood. Statehood has nothing to do with stopping development in Kashmir. You are the Chief Minister and it is your responsibility to deliver. Whatever powers are presently available with your government should be utilised instead of allowing development to come to a halt," he said. Bukhari alleged that the government was deliberately allowing funds to lapse so that it could later claim it lacked sufficient powers to execute projects. "It appears that funds are being allowed to lapse deliberately so that later the government can claim it wanted to undertake development but had no powers. If you already have administrative authority, why are you not using it?" he said. Bukhari said tourism alone could not address the economic needs of the people unless basic infrastructure was strengthened. "Tourism is important and we fully recognise its importance, but tourism alone will not fill our stomachs. Tourists will come only when infrastructure improves. Our patients can receive proper healthcare only when hospitals are adequately developed. Roads, hospitals and civic infrastructure are equally important," he said. Questioning the government's repeated announcements regarding financial assistance from the Centre, Bukhari demanded complete transparency over the utilisation of funds. "Every few months the government thanks the Prime Minister for sanctioning Rs 5,000 crore or Rs 8,000 crore. A white paper should now be issued detailing how much money has been received since this government assumed office, how much has been spent and how much has lapsed. According to the information available to me, nearly Rs 7,000 crore lapsed last year. The government must answer for this," he said. Bukhari said the public discourse had become excessively focused on statehood while issues of governance and development were being ignored. "Everyone is talking only about statehood. But if development itself has stopped, how can we talk about progress? Wherever there are vested interests, permissions are granted overnight and work is completed immediately. But projects that benefit ordinary people continue to remain neglected," he said. Bukhari said that the poor state of roads and civic infrastructure was visible across Srinagar as well as Baramulla, Sopore, Anantnag, Shopian, and several other parts of the Valley. "People witness every day the condition of roads and traffic management. Developmental works are neither properly planned nor executed. My appeal to the government is to treat development as the highest priority and immediately resume stalled projects," he said.
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