NPP protests seeking parity between Jammu and Kashmir regions

Jammu, 23-06-2021: Accusing the BJP led govt of toeing the line of their predecessors in perpetuating bias against Jammu region, the NPP activists led by Mr. Harsh Dev Singh Chairman-JKNPP and former Minister staged a massive protest at Press Club in Jammu today. The protestors raised slogans of “Jammu Prant ke saath insaaf karo, insaaf karo”, “Jammu khite ko barabar ka darza do”, “Jammu sube ke saath bhed-bhav nahin sahenge, nahin sahenge”, “BJP sarkar, hai hai”.

 Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Harsh Dev called for equitable treatment to both regions of J&K with end of all bias against the Dogra land. He said that a written statement by APM under the chairmanship of PM Modi must guarantee equal opportunities in Jobs, equal number of Assembly seats, equitable allocation of grants, parity in the distribution of funds for various sectors including power, tourism, health besides other centrally sponsored and public welfare schemes.

 Mr. Singh said that bias against Jammu region had multiplied manifold under BJP rule and especially after re-organization of the state of J&K. “Only last year post-Art 370 abrogations, the educated unemployed youth of Jammu region were subjected to the most hostile discrimination in public services. The select list of Firemen and drivers issued last year had only around 70 candidates from the Jammu region as against 620 candidates from the Kashmir region. Likewise, all the Assistant professors selected in clinical pathology last year belonged to the Kashmir region with not a single post falling in the share of the Jammu region. Similarly, all 76 posts of work supervisors in R&B (PWD) advertised last year were categorically assigned to the Kashmir region with the Jammu region having been completely neglected. And while the J&K govt terminated the services of around 1500 Health professionals engaged under SRO-24 in the Medical Colleges of Kathua, Rajouri, and Doda, it allowed their Kashmir counterparts to engage under the same SRO to continue in service. The govt further threw out several daily rated, casual, and need based workers of PHE, I&FC, PDD, etc belonging to the Jammu region besides depriving hundreds of other such workers of their wages thus compounding their woes and resulting in the starvation of their families during the most difficult times of corona pandemic.

 Seeking parity in Assembly seats, Mr. Singh said that APM must assure the equal number of seats for the two regions of Jammu and Kashmir through the ongoing process of delimitation. The unequal number of Assembly seats, he said, was the main reason for the political and economic subjugation of the Jammu region. He sought restoration of statehood followed by early elections in J&K.

Prominent among those who spoke on the occasion included Rajesh Padgotra, Gagan Pratap Singh, Khajoor Singh, Rajeshwar Sambyal, Surinder Chouhan, Mohinder Singh, Vishab Singh, Rakesh Gupta, Yashpaul Sharma, Khatib Hussian, Manjit Kumar, Parladh Singh, Shankaar Singh, Rashpaul Singh, Man Singh, Araf Hussian, Sakinder Kumar, Lehar Singh, Gurdeep Singh, Satpaul Singh, Romesh Kumar, Vijay Singh, Som Lal besides others.