The newly appointed Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, Satya Pal Malik is the first politician to be appointed to the position in over half a century. However, he says, “I may be a politician appointed as governor, but I’m not in Jammu and Kashmir for politicking.”
Speaking exclusively to The Hindu after meeting with President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Mr. Malik said his brief was to “reach out to the people of the State, to listen to them and after listening, do whatever is in their interests.”
“I will be inviting leaders of political parties to meet with me and if anyone feels uncomfortable to come to me, I will go to them. Protocol will not stop me,” Mr. Malik said.
Mum on Hurriyat
He, however, did not comment on whether these “political” leaders would include leaders of the Hurriyat Conference. “The dialogue at the level of the people is the most fundamental thing. It forms the basic foundation of any further dialogue, including high level political dialogue,” he said.
Mr. Malik, in one of his first orders of business after taking over, issued instructions that district collectors should earmark at least one day in the week for public hearings.
He has also told the two centrally appointed advisors — B.B. Vyas and Vijay Kumar — to do the same.
Mr Malik’s appointment is expected to flag the direction of the central government’s thinking for the troubled State, and points to several things. Sources in government have confirmed to The Hindu that the first big order of business would be the peaceful conduct of panchayat level polls .
Reviving politics
“For this, in all likelihood, MLAs in the now suspended Jammu and Kashmir Assembly will be given access again to the Constituency Development Fund accruing to them. Officials have also been told not go for inauguration of projects etc. and allow elected representatives to participate in these programmes. These are just a few ways in which political activity will be boosted in the State, once MLAs and political activists get back to the ground,” said a senior government official.
“Prime Minister Modi is very clear that incomplete projects in the State have to be monitored and completed fast, and very basic issues like the working of public utilities [should] be fixed. Corruption in appointments and administration has to be acted upon,” said the source. “There has to be a repair in the trust between the people of the State and the administration.”