http://www.tribuneindia.com/2010/20100423/edit.htm#6
A TRIBUNE INTERVIEW
by Raj Chengappa, Editor-in-Chief
‘Zero room for complacency’
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah
Omar Abdullah is 15 months into the job and it’s been a turbulent period for India’s youngest Chief Minister heading one of the country’s most troubled and sensitive states - Jammu and Kashmir. The young Abdullah, who turned 40, seemed to have weathered the initial storm and has got down to real business of governance keeping his focus on gut issues like power, education, roads, health and jobs. The suave Chief Minister, dressed in a trendy linen suit, spent an hour talking today to The Tribune’s Editor-in-Chief Raj Chengappa and principal correspondent Jupinderjit Singh at his official residence in Jammu. Excerpts:
You have now been 15 months in the saddle and your critics say your performance has been average. What’s your response?
If my critics were praising me I would be worried. The fact that they are criticising me is rather heartening because then we must be doing something right. I think on the whole it has been a good 15 months. There have been ups and downs but given the challenges we have had to face, we have succeeded in improving the quality of governance, improving the delivery on the promises we have made. We have sought to improve the inclusiveness of the government. We have provided a good atmosphere in terms of security and law and order. And all-round development. As I said it was not free of its share of troubles but we have dealt with these also — perhaps in the best possible way. On top of that I am heading a coalition government which is an exercise in diplomacy. So I think under the circumstances, we have done a bloody good job.
What’s the big lesson you have learnt?
I think the biggest lesson is to learn but take your own decisions. And any decision is better than no decision at all. Unlike governments in the past, I believe in doing things rather than in talking about doing things. My own style of doing things is to talk less and let my work talk for me.
What have you provided in terms of infrastructure?
In infrastructure, we have been working on not one but two central universities and four-laning of the national highway between Jammu and Srinagar which will significantly cut down the distance between the two. We have developed international airports but flights have been sketchy. We have focused on rural connectivity. In a large part of Jammu and Kashmir, connectivity is thin on the ground. You have an area like the erstwhile Doda district, which has 16 per cent road connectivity. This is abysmally low that too 60 plus years after Independence. If you can’t get a bus to village, then what are you telling people. It is really the nuts and bolts, bijli, sadak, pani, sehat and taleem. These are our five focus areas to prove qualitative improvement in the lives of the people. Power is another one. We generate 2500 mw while we talk about the potential of 17000 mw capacity. So, we are trying to add another 6000 mw in the next five to seven years. So, these are really the big ticket focus items.
You have to come to power on the basis of providing jobs to the people. What have you done about that?
We have put into place a policy for the youth. Basically, the problem has been that employment has been looked at from the prism of government jobs. In J and K, a government job is the first option. The private sector is a measure of the last resort. We are gradually trying to change that. We are trying to start a system where a stipend could be provided to economically weaker and backward sections that are struggling to find jobs. We are also working on an aggressive programme on developing our skill development infrastructure. We have 18 polytechnics coming up in various districts. We are trying to provide one ITI for every two administrative blocks. The idea is to convert essentially unemployed youth into employable youngsters, provide them those skills to match the areas they come from. And the potential that exists there. At the same time, we are trying to see how many government jobs we can create without putting too much of additional burden on the economy.
Why did the policy of inter-district recruitment ban come up?
What we found was that better educated youngsters from one part of the state would get jobs in more difficult areas and not serve there. They would then get the posts transferred out. So, in fact, the area they got recruited into would not have their services. Besides, the posts available to that area would suffer. There are three kinds of government jobs — the district cadre, the provincial and the state level. The new ban is applicable to the district level only and we have ensured that the constitutional safeguards of 8 per cent for the Scheduled Castes have not been affected.
Was it a ploy to scuttle any non-valley citizen from taking valley jobs and also populating the region, thereby changing the demographics?
No, absolutely not. Please understand that we have only brought back a situation which existed up to 2004. It is not as if we have reverted to something that existed in pre-1947. It is not as if it was a Jammu versus Kashmir thing. More often, we found that it was a problem within Kashmir. People from Anantnag were getting jobs in Kupwara and Kupwara people were saying what was wrong with us. So, this in a sense was just to protect the employment interests of these districts.
Your main opposition party, the PDP, just today launched an agitation for India and Pakistan to settle the Kashmir issue?
I have my doubts on the extent to which they will be able to involve the people. They know that no amount of agitation on our part is going to get India and Pakistan talking to each other until the two countries are ready themselves.
What is your approach?
I think both will have to fulfil what they have been saying so far. For that, Pakistan has to ensure that its territory is not used against India and India has to ensure that we keep the dialogue process going on in spite of efforts made to sabotage or hijack it. If we can just do this, I think half of battle is done.
Has there been a rise in militancy in the Valley?
Contrary to popular perception that we are having a hot summer, infiltration this year is lower than last year at the same time. But, obviously, we have to remain on our guard. There is absolutely zero room for complacency. There is no room for letting our guard down.
Should the Army reduce its forces in the Valley?
I think it is something for the Army to decide. And it has to be taken out of the political arena. The decision to bring the Army in was not a political one. It was based on the security environment in the state at that time. And the decision to take the Army out will also be based not on political sloganeering of any political party. It will be based on the comfort level of the state government and the Central Government with the inputs from the forces on the ground. And keeping that in mind, we have had some amount of de-location of forces and we have done it quietly. Without all the bells and whistles that normally go with such decision. And so far it has worked absolutely fine.
What’s your approach to the question of revoking the Armed Forces Special Powers Act?
It is a two-pronged one. In the medium term, we will hope to revoke it completely. But obviously in the near future, we would like it modified and amended so that the more draconian aspects of it can be taken away, like the search and seizure permissions, the mobile check posts that are allowed to be set up, where the law and machinery is kept out of the purview of this. Those aspects need to be looked at.
How should the Army be dealing with the people — we just had the case of a 70-year-old being killed?
What they need to build into the system is transparency and accountability.
Your opponent shave been pushing for self-rule. But you have been talking about autonomy. What do you want?
Well, basically, that the autonomy to J and K is a constitutionally mandated situation that existed between 1947 and 1953. And we believe that is the way forward. But we also say that there is enough scope for discussion. Clearly, we are neither the only political party here, nor are we the only voice and it is important that the government of India in the light of the Justice Sagheer Ahmed Report start engaging various voices and find a road map that is acceptable to the majority of people.
Between Jammu and Kashmir, a lot of trouble happened earlier because of the Amarnath Yatra. What have you been doing to bring the two regions together?
Just basically ensuring that each region gets it due share. No more, no less. We are trying to ensure that no region feels cheated or robbed at the hands of other one. There are sensitivities and those have to be addressed. And in this, the government of India has also played its part on the issue of the central university, which some political parties were hoping would flare up into an Amarnath agitation based on regional lines. And they were kind enough to sanction two central universities and that put an end to that.
Has the Amarnath land row being resolved?
It is a non-issue. The shrine board is free to use whatever land it needs to for the duration of the yatra and that has always been the case and it will continue to be the case.
Does the shadow of your father, Farooq Abdullah, fall on you. What lessons have you learnt from him?
We learn from everybody that we come across and meet. And I learn from dad almost everyday. I think he is one of the few people I turn for advice, knowing that it won’t be in anyway biased or motivated by self interest. I learnt from him to be straight forward. I think my dad takes it to new heights but I tend not to do that.
What is the difference between you and your father?
Well, I don’t play golf. (laughs)
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