The Governor’s Secretariat claims to have disposed of 68,053out of 68,244 complaints over the past one year (INS News, 7 June, 2019). Itsuggests its 100% performance in the governance sector; hence a far bettergoverning arrangement than the elected ones in the past.
May be the claim holds true in respect of other areas in theState. But, it is not so regarding the Professors’ Colony, Naseem Bagh,Hazratbal. The inmates registered six complaints with the Governor’s GrievanceCell (GGC) for resolution of issues in the newly set-up HOD system under thePower Development Department (PDD); subterranean sewage pipes under the Lakesand waterways Department (LAWDA); Colony roads under the City Roads Department;water supplies under the Public Health Department (PHE) and similarly situatedproblems under the domain of Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC). Practically,none of the issues was addressed by the concerned departments, may be for theirfund-shortage or apathy either.
Evidently, the word ‘disposal’ of the GGC simply connotesreceipt of complaints and their transmission to the concerned Departments forneedful, without monitoring their follow up action in real practice. In fact,the governance in Professors Colony’s context and the Valley in general iselusive, perhaps for the decade-old conflict, misplaced state priorities,decelerating institutions, diminishing public faith, endemic corruption and thelike system rots since early nineties.
For palpable breach in the ‘social contract’, the statestructures are unresponsive to the public urgencies. Alternatively, the Colonyinmates raised their own funds to electrify the ‘dark’ lanes and plug theoverhead ‘deadly’ holes on the thoroughfare. The PDD blatantly denied doing soand the City Roads benumbed to our phone calls regarding the urgency.
Reality is that the governance has taken a back seat to thesecurity in J&K. The major thrust is on the militancy, elections, Yatra andthe like pressing problems. Eventually, the rule of law is invisible. The banon the polythene, beggary and the massive territorial encroachments areself-explanatory. Public spaces, roads, lanes, by-lanes, pavements, river andstream-beds and historical sites, are recklessly occupied and misused by thevendors, grocers, retailers, wholesalers and other ‘evil doers’. While theyhold no regard to the ethical and moral values, the state machinery is defunctto stop it either. The people are naturally subjected to the recurring floodsand traffic jams, here, there and everywhere, indicating as if ‘the state isnot in place’. One wonders: would it ever end and who to stop it, LAWDA, SMC,police or any other State Department?
The arable land under paddy and saffron cultivation is fastdiminishing due to the road widening, constructions and industrial set ups.Neither protective nor alternative measures are operational, which tends to marginalizethe State’s self-sufficiency on the one hand and enhance its dependence on thePunjab on the other. Similarly, the traditional Kashmir crafts, copper works,wood carving, shawl and carpet weaving etc., are precipitously perishing forchanging market forces and the State’s failure to translate their protectiveordinances into real practice. Thousands of customary artisans and crafts menare turning jobless for what theorists perceive as the ‘misgoverned’ or’failing’ if not the ‘failed’ state’. Would the interim government do somethingspecial for their enduring sustenance, since it has already taken a number ofpolicy decisions for purported posterity?
The level of public-services delivery is poor. The cityroads are pathetic due to the wholesome drains, dents and ditches. This year,repair and macadamisation works are curiously delayed, despite half of thefinancial year gone by now. Only some patch works is underway at certainisolated places. Power cuts continue even in late June, and no differenceexists between the metered and unmetered areas. The infrastructure of the PowerDepartment is too weak to resist ordinary rains, downpours is too distant. Theon-road power transformers are thoughtlessly exposed. The power Department issluggish to de-erect the electric poles along the roads widened by the CityRoads at certain locations. It indicates lack of departmental coordination as adeterrent to the smooth traffic and transport.
Market dynamics exhibits ailments. The J&K’s 7.2%inflation rate is highest in whole India. The market regulations beingvirtually in-operational, the commodity prices are not determined by normalsupply-demand factor but rather by the whims and wishes of the stockists. Theoft-recurring national high-way blockades and artificially-created scarcity ofthe commodities does the rest. Poor quality goods are sold at high prices andthe adulteration level in various commodities is on the steep rise for theinstitutional apathy. No regular checks are in place to weed out spuriousmedicines, eatables, and drinks from the market. The checking squads are rarelyseen during the year, leaving thereby the vendees at the mercy of the vendors.
Financial accountability and system transparency isdeficient. The J&K is infamously one among the top most corrupt Indianstates: Karnataka, Andhra, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, J&K and the Punjab. Theearlier regimes showed no serious interest to reduce its extent inrecruitments, appointments, constructions, industries, subsidies and other servicesectors. The earlier land, sports and recruitment scams and the recent one inJK Bank, speak volumes about the unscrupulous state of affairs in J&K.
However, the JK Bank’s crackdown by the anti-corruptionbureau (ACB) warrants prodding on several accounts. Was it really done tofilter the Bank’s innate pathologies or to mar its unique identity? Would the present scam be a catalyst toreopening the Bank’s earlier recruitment frauds, and would it give justice tothe affected candidates? Is JK Bank the lone case of scandals in the State?Would the present interim government undo the system rots during the extendedsix-month Presidential rule or leave it for the future elected government toaccount for?
Tailpiece:
Unquestionably, governance is a victim of continued Kashmirconflict and its spill over on the institutional functioning. It generatedsystem rots over the decades, which the former regimes cared least for the votebank politics and the Centre’s close-mouthed nod to it for larger national interests.The present interim government of Governor Malik is also trying to streamlinethe system. But, he too has complications to restore ‘good governance’ in the’ailing’ state. Therefore, good governance won’t be forthcoming without durablepolitical stability in the state.