Hold BJP ministers accountable

Kashmir Times. Dated: 3/22/2018 4:13:24 PM

Some coalition ministers' functioning smacks of authoritarian and autocratic behavior in dealing with issues of public importance

Far from offering good governance and a transparent and accountable administration, the PDP-BJP government in Jammu and Kashmir has been unable to come up to the expectations of the public, not only because of the inherent ideological incompatibility of the two alliance partners. Despite these compulsions and differences, when the foundation of this alliance was rooted in a Common Minimum Programme (CMP) sketched out in the Agenda of Alliance (AoA) which focused on both political outreach and in equitable development. It hasn't been able to do either; the former because of the constraints under which it is operating and the deepening militaristic as well as chauvinist line being adopted by New Delhi with respect to Kashmir conflict and the borders and the latter because of lack of competence of the administrative apparatus. To give the devil his due, it is also an admitted fact that this government inherited a messy administrative apparatus and deepening disenchantment among public with political and administrative institutions as its predecessor, National Conference, had not been efficient or competent by any means. The ministers at the top most rung of this apparatus have become a law unto themselves and while administrative circles are rife with stories of constant tussles between ministers from the two coalition parties or between bureaucrats and ministers, three glaring incidents that put the spot-light on few ministers is a glaring reflection of the absence of organized effort to check mal-administration; also of authoritarian and autocratic manner of functioning. The arbitrary manner in which a doctor in Government Medical College has been sacked by health minister Bali Bhagat for nailing the lie of a minister is one such case in point. The doctor is said to have questioned the false narrative being built up by the minister on the social media with respect to some hospital lift. The government instead of making its own affairs transparent has cracked down on the whistle blower and is cowering behind the façade of a ruthless, unjustifiable and unconstitutional gag imposed on employees with respect to use of social media under SRO 525. In yet another case, that has received much less attention, Kuldeep Raj Gupta is photographed with a stone in hand in protest against encroachment drive in Rajouri in which his son's shop was demolished. The minister contends that the land in question had been authorized. Whether or not that contention is true, it invokes more than just an irony that a man from a party which bats for liberal use of brutal actions including bullets and pellets against law breakers like stone-pelters in Kashmir should choose to pick up the stone himself rather than resorting to legal means to battle out his case. In a far more shocking case, two ministers of the BJP, Lal Singh and Chander Prakash Ganga, recently campaigned in Hiranagar calling upon public to oppose the 'jungle law' of arresting the accused in the case of rape and murder of an eight-year old girl. There are videos showing them exhorting people to violate Section 144 CrPC in support of the accused and of trivializing the crime with the words "so what if one girl has died, many more die everyday". Such remarks that smack of sexist bias, are communally provocative and preach lawlessness should have invited action from the top. Instead, there has been complete silence. The indiscipline, incompetence and acts of omission and commission of ministerial colleagues cannot be deemed to be party affairs of the two coalition partners. The cabinet of ministers has a collective responsibility to set best examples of governance, not to engage in a rash display of brute power or overlook that of the other. The ruling coalition is accountable to the public of the state as a whole. The responsibility with respect to governance, management of administration and the personal conduct of the ministers cannot be divided and compartmentalised by party organizational boundaries. If good governance and accountability indeed is the aim of this government, and not sharing the crumbs of power and pelf, as chief minister Mehbooba Mufti is under a moral obligation to rein in her own colleagues, irrespective of their party affiliations.

 

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