Govt apathy proving more fatal than Covid in J&K: Mehbooba

SRINAGAR: Accusing the Centre of abandoning people in the midst of a crisis, People’s Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti on Wednesday alleged that administrative apathy coupled with mismanagement and nepotism was proving more fatal than the current Covid-19 pandemic.
Addressing a virtual meeting with senior party functionaries, Mehbooba said, “From the rising graph of Covid-positive cases and fatalities it is clear that the administration in J&K, like the rest of the country, was caught unprepared to meet the exigencies. Nepotism and favouritism has crippled the entire administrative setup in the erstwhile state, compounding miseries of the general masses.”
She said administration at the district level has been crippled as the governing dispensation in New Delhi is not allowing officers to make decisions required for the welfare of people. “The independence and functioning of the administration has been made hostage to the political aspirations of BJP, and Jammu has been at the receiving end,” she said.
The PDP chief said the Mughal Road and Kishtwar-Sinthan highways remained closed for vehicular traffic despite huge amounts spent on snow clearance only because those sitting in New Delhi consider surface connectivity of Rajouri-Poonch and Doda-Kishtwar-Ramban of Chenab region with Kashmir as detrimental to their political interests. “The closure of these vital road links has not only affected the trading community but has also restricted options for those who are required to go for specialised medical treatment,” she said.