Situated atop a hill in Srinagar, the Raj Bhavan offers a spectacular view of the Dal Lake and the surrounding mountain ranges. But given the constant turmoil in Jammu and Kashmir, its occupants rarely get time to immerse themselves in the scene. Manoj Sinha is no exception. Appointed as the Lieutenant Governor last August, the second after the reorganization of Jammu and Kashmir into a Union Territory on August 5, 2019, Sinha already had his hands full. The appointment of the 62-year-old BJP leader from Uttar Pradesh, who was a former Union Minister of State for Railways and Telecom, was a sign that the Narendra Modi government was eager to restore the political process, which was later dissolved. Abrogation of Article 370. Since then, Sinha can take credit for starting the political dialogue, when the prime minister invited Kashmiri leaders – many of whom were detained and condemned by the ruling government. June 24 and it takes a long march towards restoring statehood to them in J&K.
Now comes the difficult task of successfully conducting the delimitation exercise and then the assembly elections. Meanwhile, J&K urgently needs development and employment for its restless youth. Despite the big promises of turning the Union Territory into an industrial hub, there is not much to show. In a detailed interview with Group Editorial Director (Publications) Raj Chengappa, Lt Governor Sinha discussed contentious issues and his commitment to bring about speedy progress and peace in the Valley. Part:
The political process has started after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s meeting with the leaders of Jammu and Kashmir on June 24. What has been the result?
The political process should not be linked only to the meeting of the Prime Minister. Was engaged in work. When I was given this responsibility and I went to meet the PM, he told me some important things. First, that dialogue should continue and second, immediate steps should be taken to strengthen democracy at the grassroots level in Jammu and Kashmir. So, we have already started that process. After a long time, three tier Panchayati Raj institutions were established here and free, fair, transparent and violence free elections were held. In the districts where there used to be 5-7 percent voter turnout, youth and women participated with great enthusiasm. Then, District Development Councils (DDCs) were formed in 20 districts. The all-party meeting with the Prime Minister was held in a cordial atmosphere. well begun is half done.
Opposition leaders are asking why delimitation is happening first, then elections and then why statehood?
In his Independence Day speech last year, the PM had clarified that assembly elections will be held in Jammu and Kashmir after the Delimitation Commission completes its work. The Home Minister reiterated this in Parliament. You know the importance of anything said in Parliament – it has to happen. This process is now progressing slowly. Once the delimitation process is over, the Election Commission is the constitutional body to decide when and how elections will be held. Read the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization Act, after becoming a union territory, the number of seats in the assembly increased. Therefore, elections cannot be held without delimitation, although many are questioning the need for delimitation by arguing that it was not done in other places like Assam. That argument doesn’t last here. The Delimitation Commission was constituted by an Act of Parliament. And, the world has a good opinion about the Election Commission of India. We should have faith in the Election Commission and the Delimitation Commission.
Opposition leaders wonder why the statehood cannot be restored earlier?
No one is saying that the state will not be formed. Both the Prime Minister and the Home Minister have said that statehood will be restored at an appropriate time. How can elections be held without delimitation? Let there be a limitation. What will happen next—elections or statehood—is a million dollar question.
The parties in Kashmir are challenging the abrogation of Article 370 and have gone to the Supreme Court with an appeal.
We should wait for the final decision of the Supreme Court. You will find many Supreme Court judgments, that if a matter is pending, it is unconstitutional and illegal to create an atmosphere among the public for or against it.
The Prime Minister has said that a committee will be formed to investigate and release the leaders still arrested. Has this committee been constituted?
Broadly speaking, now no political person is under house arrest. There are two categories of detention. Category A: Political person. Category B: Booked under certain laws like CrPC, IPC for terrorism financing or extremism. How can category B people be released? Despite this, we formed a committee on the instructions of the Home Minister. The Principal Secretary (Home) is heading the committee and will investigate the matter on a case-by-case basis.
It has been almost two years since Jammu and Kashmir was made a Union Territory and many promises were made regarding development. What has been achieved?
Look at it from two perspectives – what happened in the last 70 years and what happened in the last two years. Two AIIMS were sanctioned in two years. Work for Srinagar AIIMS has started in Awantipora. The second will come to Jammu. Seven new medical colleges, two cancer institutes, seven nursing colleges, one orthopedics institute and pediatric facilities have been approved. Two tunnels were opened in June, one near Banihal and a Z-turn tunnel. Look at the speed at which highways are being built. The work of making rail link to Srinagar is going on for a long time. Srinagar will be connected with Kanyakumari by the end of 2022. Parliament has passed a budget of Rs 1.08 lakh crore for Jammu and Kashmir this year. Looking at the budget allocation relative to the population, the budget of Jammu and Kashmir is 7 or 8 times more than the budget of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. This is an achievement.
> But the leaders say that things like power cuts continue in Srinagar.
Compare the availability of electricity two years ago and now. Expecting the impossible to expect everything to be done in two years despite two waves of covid. How much electricity did you generate in 70 years? Just 3,450 MW. In the next four-five years, we will get more power-3,500 MW. There is a capacity of 16,000-20,000 MW. Not a single project could be completed in Sialkot in 35 years, this is the achievement of those who talk of development. We have completed over 1,100 languishing projects. We have introduced such transparency that no project can proceed without administrative approval, technical clearance, financial clearance and e-tendering. We have ended that racket. Now, all the works are geo-tagged, physically verified and put in the public domain for people to decide whether the work is being done properly or not.
> Has corruption reduced?
Not only has it decreased, we have stopped it. This has become a problem for many people.
> But people say petty corruption still exists?
I am not saying that it is completely over. But we have changed the system. Above all, one cannot say that there is corruption in the top sectors. Many of the corrupt have gone to jail. We have attached properties of people. We are not just talking about ‘Zero Tolerance’ towards corruption, we are taking action on it.
> What about incentives for the industry?
We are giving an incentive of Rs 28,400 crore to the industry. We are giving 300% incentive on GST. With the proposals coming forward, I have no doubt that there will be an investment of Rs 30,000-35,000 crore in the coming two years, with employment opportunities for 500,000-600,000 people. We already have proposals worth Rs 20,000 crore. Our Industries Secretary has gone to Jammu. The date of the meeting on the proposals of Jammu is also fixed.
There is concern that even though the fund and industrial policy are good, everything is still on paper.
The industrial policy came only three-four months back. Since then, we have been engaged in managing the COVID situation. Let us meet again in three months, and I will show you investments and projects worth at least Rs 20,000 crore. I will show you that work has started on the ground.
Q. On Jammu and Kashmir, Prime Minister Modi has said that he wants to remove ‘Delhi ki Doori’ (distance from Delhi) as well as ‘Dil ki Doori’ (distance between hearts). How does the government propose to end this disconnect?
Jammu and Kashmir is very close to the heart of the Prime Minister. I have been meeting him regularly on the matters of Jammu and Kashmir. Whenever I meet him, the Prime Minister asks whether a certain highway has been built, is a certain tunnel ready, has money been transferred to the DDC. Talking about the district capex budget, the budget of the districts has not been done anywhere else in the country. This was done here on the instructions of the Prime Minister. There were extensive deliberations at the Panchayat, Block and DDC levels, following which the budget was passed. The district capex budget last year was Rs 5,136 crore; This year it has more than doubled to Rs 12,600 crore. We have launched a whole range of development plans which are working well.
There are apprehensions of people from outside J&K coming in and owning the land and taking away local jobs.
Barring a few, there is no such fear in the minds of the people here. You can inquire around whether anyone from outside J&K has got an inch of land here. As far as the industry is concerned, if anyone wants to build a hotel, we will provide them with land. If anyone wants to build a hospital, we will give land. If Fortis, Medanta or any good super specialty hospital comes here, we will provide them land. Also, the land laws here mandate J&K domicile. Roughly 90 per cent of the land is cultivable, where no outsider can come. The remaining 10 per cent is government land and even the residents of Jammu and Kashmir cannot get it.
Q. What about reservation in jobs and educational institutions for local citizens like Haryana and Maharashtra? Is something similar being thought of for Jammu and Kashmir as well?
Only those having domicile of Jammu and Kashmir can get jobs here. Outsiders can’t. Now, you cannot get reservation in IAS cadre. Spreading rumors and inciting sentiments must stop. Jammu and Kashmir is moving towards the mainstream of the country. People here want development and employment. But some people do not want peace and prosperity because of vested interests.
> How is the security situation?
The security situation is very good. More than three times more tourists have come here than in the last several years. Security forces have the upper hand. We have made a strategy that we will take strict action against terrorism and form an opinion on it in the country. The coordination between our security forces, J&K Police, Indian Army or paramilitary forces is very good. A new challenge has emerged in the form of drones and necessary arrangements have been made at all our establishments to deal with it.
> People in the valley are afraid to speak their mind and complain that they are not treated with respect.
I say this very responsibly: there is no restriction on speech in Jammu and Kashmir for the common man or any political person. Meetings are being held every day. There is no restriction on political activity, dialogue or strengthening of democracy, but anti-national activity will not be allowed. The honor and dignity of the common people was never attacked. Nor will it ever be. The dignity of every citizen will be protected.
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