On 5th of August – the first Lieutenant Governor of J&K, Sh. Girish Chandra Murmu submitted his resignation letter to the President of India amid a milieu of unknown rationales and with a lot of unresolved catechisms. Was this an individual decision or Government at the centre wanted him to step down from the Constitutional post in the Union Territory of J&K? Some deliberations are running in various media platforms that the Central Government was unhappy with his one-sided stands on various concerns in J&K, like one of his recent interviews to increase frequency band from obsolete -2G to 4th generation bandwidth/LTE in telecom sector, pulling & amounted to him up by the Election Commission of India for repeated remarks on polls and meddling in the panel’s constitutional mandate and poor people to government contact. Let me skip it over to Sh. GC Murmu and the GOI since the cause for his resignation has yet not been released in the public domain. Though there is some prognosis that he may replace Rajiv Mehrishi as the next Comptroller & Auditor General of India (CAG) and what happened in J&K -might be on the formula of routine transfer and postings (speculations).
The communique issued by the President’s press secretary Ajay Kumar that the President has been pleased to appoint Shri Manoj Sinha as the next Lieutenant Governor of J&K will be in effect from the date he assumes charge of his office. Mr Sinha was born in Ghazipur district of Uttar Pradesh and has been actively involved in working for alleviating poverty and development of backward villages in the erstwhile state of UP. Coming from an educated family, he holds B. Tech & M. Tech degree in Civil Engineering from the IIT -Banaras (Varanasi). He was elected to the Lower House of Parliament for the first time in 1996, again in 1999 and subsequently (third time) in 2014. The clean image and honesty of Manoj Sinha has always kept him out of any controversy vis-à-vis an impeccable candidate for the welfare of the people from J&K. A Grand Welcome “Sinha” Sir!
In one of his recent interviews to an India Today reporter, the former Lieutenant Governor while replying to a question explicitly expressed his desire to work for the betterment of people defying it a challenge and termed it an “opportunity”. Yes, “taking challenge as an opportunity” is a wonderful trait but it also says that an opportunity is a combination of “favourable” circumstances or situations. Truly, when you have faced a challenge, you learn more about yourself. You learn what you are made of, how you react to someone who’s anxious and distressing, how strong you are? If a challenge is really an opportunity, where must we find that opportunity? I’m talking about the huge unemployment gap in J&K. If it was six months, one year or two, it was all correct, but this thread is stretching uninterruptedly, isn’t it? People who had finished their post graduations before 2010 are in the same category with those who have completed in 2018. Amid an elation and a bit of hope, educated youths are quite apprehensive especially due to the lack of opportunities. When will all promises of opportunity (that have been made so far) be achieved so that the job-seeking youths can fulfil their dream of becoming self-reliant and breadwinners for their families and the zing can be perpetuated for the prosperity of the country?
To rectify, a thorough introspection of the sluggish approach and poor policy framework is the need of the hour. Unless this goal is achieved; loopholes will still haunt the aspirations of the people who believe in futuristic thinking. There are many archetypes when hardly a season/ a yearlong recruitment drive had been delayed for years. This is quite an exasperating scenario when some advertisement notifications released somewhere in 2012-16 yet haven’t been tackled/cleared and aspirants are incessantly waiting for any nod for the recruitment process. It is pertinent to mention here that most people have crossed age bar or are over-age to apply for the upcoming new posts. One more concern, is the case of 60K PHE workers, daily wagers, contractual lecturers/teachers, teachers who have/are worked/working on consolidatory salary pattern under the Ministry of Education/Health etc must be dealt at the topmost priority with time-bound strategy and reinstation of some employees must be done at earliest. All upcoming and existing central government schemes need proper and timely implementation. Time has come to bring dynamism in both Education and Health Sector. This pandemic has left or reminisced us many lessons and hence we can’t make any compromise if somehow we keep-back, it may cost us in the long run. Union territory on its own must consult various stakeholders and should release some economy-boost relief packages if not in a major policy announcement – then through various tranches can be a good idea.
Small business units, entrepreneurs and street vendors are eyeing your arrival (though you are a new entreat in J&K with a lot of responsibilities) with a hopeful vision. It will be years before we fully understand the economic impact of Covid -19, but one thing is painfully clear right now: small business units across the Union Territory are facing an existential threat. Undoubtedly, they are an essential part of UT economy. Government interference (if any) must be greatly appreciated since such type of business units are facing many problems like hiring right people, building a brand and marketing thereof, developing a customer base and so on.
We are confident on the calibre and fact-understanding of the new Lieutenant Governor -veritably, he’s an astute judge of the facts, a veteran in comprehending emotions, a great supporter of meritocracy, a youth icon, a shoulder to carry on and indeed having a heart of gold. A plaintive submission from the perplexed minds and get a tag of “aficionado and acumen” for good governance from we people. We aren’t blaming anyone for all miseries that youth is facing these days and even not recommending overhauling whole, but some areas like “Berozgari” need firm attentiveness. Job growth of a nation shows the strength of the nation in terms of the workforce diversity, equal participation of men and women in the economy thus has a serious influence on the nation builder i.e. the future generations. More off, employment contributes to our happiness, helps us to build confidence and self-esteem. Employment is the only way to bring happiness on the face of discontented hearts.
At Last, Iikin Santak reminding us……
“The true charity is not giving bread or money but providing employment”
This is an opinion piece written by RAJESH MANHAS, who has previously studied Master of Science (M.Sc), at the Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Kashmir, Hazratbal, Srinagar (Kashmir). Email: – [email protected]
Disclaimer: The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by the various authors and forum participants on this website do not reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of the Straight Line. They are of the individual authors and not necessarily of StraightLine. No part of this work may be produced and stored in a retrieved system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying recording or otherwise without written permission from the writer or the Editor-in-Chief of www.straightlinemag.com
