Create new Districts before elections to District Development Councils: MPEJ

Kuldeep Kumar Rao, President Thathri Development Front, District, Doda in a statement issued here has appealed to the Lt. Governor of J&K UT, Sh. Manoj Sinha & also to the Central Government to create new Districts before elections to District Development Councils (DDCs), for Justice for population wise equality in J&K UT. In Kashmir Division there are Districts with hardly two or three Tehsils while in Jammu Division there are Districts like District Doda having 15 Tehsils. So to have one District Development council in one District is irrespective of number of Tehsils in it, is not only in genuine but also ridiculous. So it is appealed to the centre government & the Governor’s administration to make number of Tehsils equal or almost equal in every District after reorganization of Tehsils & the creation of New Districts is of paramount importance.

Rao has further appealed to the Hon’ble Union Minister in PMO, Dr. Jatinder Singh  & Delimitation Commission Member for J&K/Boundary Commission to J&K to please create separate Assembly Constituency of the whole Sub-Division Thathri. As the Sub-Division Thathri is divided in Bhadarwah & Inderwal Constituencies because of which the whole Sub-Division Thathri is lacking the basic facilities. Sub-Division Thathri is the most backward and undeveloped Sub-Division of Jammu & Kashmir UT, whose 90% population is situated in villages in the rural area. The benefits of independence & democracy are yet to reach this area as it has all along been neglected in the past by the successive state governments as till date no MLC or MLA is from Sub-Division Thathri. They also demand District Status for Sub-Division Thathri as it now comprises of 5 Tehsils and all the existing Districts & Assembly Constituencies in the state have hardly 2 or 3 Tehsils. Moreover Drabshalla Tehsil, of District Kishtwar is only at a distance of 4 kms from the office of Sub-Division Thathri, where as it is not less than 26 kms from District Head Quarter Kishtwar & the Tehsil Head Quarter of Mohalla Tehsil of District Doda is at a distance of hardly 14 kms from the office of Sub-Division Thathri, where as it is not less than 25 kms from District Head Quarter Doda. If these two Tehsils are also included in Sub-Division Thathri it will be easily accessible to the public of these two Tehsils than Kishtwar or Doda. Then it will be a sub-Division of 7 Tehsils & hence highly deserving for a Separate Assembly Constituency & also for District status as all the existing Assembly Constituencies & Districts in the state have hardly 2 or 3 Tehsils. Moreover Sub-Division Thathri also qualifies all parameters:- Geographical compactness, Physical features ,Existing boundaries of administrative units, Facilities of communication &  conveniences to the public & also  centre of the  population of all these 7 Tehsils.

Rao further  said that the people of Jammu province in general & Sub-Division Thathri in particular have never got what was their genuine due share in the socio-economic and political processes during all these more than 70 years of the state’s accession to India. It is Jammu based leadership that is responsible for the step-motherly treatment being meted out to the people of Jammu Province in general & Sub-Division Thathri in particular, as also for the prevailing discontent in this region. There is hardly any section of society in Jammu region which is happy. Had the Jammu leadership, like its counterpart in Kashmir discharged its obligations towards this region and played a pro-active role in the state cabinet, Legislative Assembly & Legislative council, the story of Jammu Province in general & erstwhile Doda District in particular today would have been totally different. He asked the Congress, NPP & BJP Legislators that who helped Farooq Abdullah Government in February 2002 amendment in the state constitution to bar delimitation of Assembly constituencies for more than three decades? Almost all the law-makers from Jammu, including those from congress, voted for the anti-democratic amendment. Even Ghulam Nabi Azad, who claims that he belongs to Jammu, hit the people of Jammu Province below the belt by rejecting the Wazir Commission report that had recommended three new districts for Jammu and one for Kashmir and created eight new districts, four each for Jammu region & Kashmir region. He defended the anti-Jammu decision saying he believed in the principle of equality. The same in genuine process is being adopted by BJP in creating of 14 District Development Councils in each District of J&K UT, ignoring the area & population of the Districts & also conducted BDC elections without 73rd amendment of Indian constitution & on Party basis in J&K.