It has been four years since the abrogation of Article 370, and three years since the present Lieutenant-Governor Manoj Sinha took charge of the state. He spoke to Shahid Faridi, Rajesh Kumar Thakur and Fayaz Wani about how far the Union and the state governments have been able to achieve the goals they had set in terms of ending militancy in the troubled state and bringing economic prosperity for its people. Excerpts:
How have you fared on the economic front, as it was said that Article 370 was the biggest obstacle on the road to prosperity? What have been the biggest benefits of revoking the Article?
I would like to say that street violence has largely ended. Now, the common man can live on his own terms. Our neighbour is constantly attempting to facilitate infiltration, but our security forces and the Army are always on alert to thwart any such attempt. About the advantages of nullification of Article 370 and 35A, I have to say three things: Today the common man is feeling relieved that there is no street violence and that it was sponsored. I would not like to go into the reasons why it used to happen.
Secondly, there used to be bandh calls by secessionists and terrorists on more than 150 days a year. Schools, colleges, businesses, trade, traffic etc would come to a standstill. This has ended. You can find people shopping even at 10 pm. People can be seen playing guitar and relaxing at Dal Lake till late. It may seem a small thing, but it is a big change.
I feel the biggest change is that the state’s common man can live his life the way he wants. This change has benefitted poor people the most. Auto drivers, hawkers, restaurant workers, shikara-walas and houseboat owners bore the brunt of the bandhs. With peace returning, 1.88 crore tourists visited Kashmir last year. This year, till July-end, 1.27 crore tourists have visited Kashmir.
These numbers will be over 2.25 crore. The government employees were in any case not attending office. With bandh calls, they got a reason to skip their duty. This adversely impacted development work. All this has changed now. The year I came here, around 9,000 projects were cleared, this year more than 92,000 projects have been cleared.
Militancy and stone-pelting have declined, but targeted killings have increased since January this year. Migrant workers and Kashmiri Pandits are being targeted. What steps have you taken to check this?
These acts were committed intentionally, with a plan. But if we take the figures from the last 15-20 years, I think the situation is better now. But I don’t want to go into figures. Even if one man’s life is lost, it is a loss and it must not be there. The people’s expectation from our government has increased now. We have to stand true to the expectations. The entire terror ecosystem is being dismantled through a meticulously planned strategy. It is true that our attention was more on the Valley, but now security has been tightened and results are encouraging from other parts as well. We have a government in Delhi that is not interested in buying peace. We want to establish permanent peace.
On the economic front, the state doesn’t seem to have done very well. According to a reply by MoS Home Nityanand Rai in the Lok Sabha, the total investment in J&K has declined by 55% from `840.55 crore in 2017-18 to `376.76 crore in 2021-22…
In 2021, a new industrial scheme was framed. After Independence and before 2021, total private investment was approximately `13,000-14,000 crore. You are talking about 2017 and 2021, the investment figures were what you mentioned. Today, we have received proposals worth more than `80,000 crore. Today, I can say that projects worth `27,000-28,000 crore are on the ground and some of them are going to be completed within 3-4 months while some will take 2-3 years.
The department of industry in J&K has said that more than 90% of proposals for land allotment requests have come from locals and outside investors have not come in expected numbers. Why is it so?
It is a matter of great satisfaction that the locals are investing. Outsiders have also made investments. I can name one of them and it is Jindal steel company, which is investing here. Cold storage is being built by the locals here. The horticulture produce is on the rise and it has reached about 18 lakh metric tonnes. And the production is set to double with our new scheme.
The land leases of commercial establishments and residential plots are expiring. There is confusion about whether or not the government will renew them. What is the government policy?
There is no confusion. We have formed a new land grant rule. There was no policy for the renewal of the land lease. It was being done arbitrarily earlier. A transparent policy has now been framed and leases will be renewed as per the law of the land.
Will the old residential and commercial land leases be extended on payment of a fee?
The policy has been formed for the commercial land lease. The policy for residential land will also soon be framed. Everything will be done as per a transparent policy.
The delimitation has been completed. When will panchayat and Assembly elections be held?
You may know that on October 31, 2019, Parliament passed the State Reorganisation Act, making J&K a UT. After delimitation, seven seats have been added to its assembly. Unless their boundaries are defined, how can elections be held? The delimitation was needed and the work is now complete. The Home Minister gave a statement in Parliament that delimitation is the first step, followed by assembly elections and then the restoration of statehood at an appropriate time. The voter lists are needed to be updated. Whenever the ECI will decide and take a call, we are ready to get the assembly elections conducted. We will also try to hold panchayat polls on time.
There has also been a talk of giving land to people from outside the state. Has your government given plots to outsiders?
I can say with full authority that not a single inch of land has been given to the people of other states. This is planned propaganda. Under PMAY, those who are eligible and have no land have been provided government land. Under this scheme, 2,711 residents of J&K have been given houses and 40,000 houses under the PMAY have been given to the people belonging to the Scheduled Tribes, including 8,000 to the people of the Bakarwal community. Some people are indulging in spreading falsehood.
Not a single inch of land has been given to outsiders. Citizens of J&K have been given
the same protection in agricultural land that the people of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand enjoy. However, those who come forward for industrial investment here, even if they are from outside the state, will be provided land.
How has J&K moved on the education and employment fronts?
We have created a department called mission youth. About 30,000 vacant government posts have been filled up in the last three years in a transparent way. Gone are the days when jobs were given recommendations. Jobs will now be given only on merit and in a transparent way. We have taken a lot of steps to boost self-employment. Over 5 lakh youth have got employment. We are running a programme called ‘back to village’ under which a group of 15 youths are identified in each panchayat. They are supported in self-employment efforts. In a single day, Rs 939 crore was distributed to 75,000 youth under the scheme.
The startup ecosystem is gathering pace. As many as 550 startups have started.
We have also started the holistic agricultural programme. Around seven lakh women have been linked with SHGs. Many of our products have got GI tags and their exports have started. As far as education is concerned, we have formed an education council. We are sorting out legacy issues. We hope for a better future for J&K.