KL Report
Srinagar
Peoples Democratic Party Patron Mufti Mohammed Sayeed has said that by justifying corruption on the pretext of coalition politics the Chief Minister seems to be offering a license to politicians and civil servants.
Addressing a public meeting at Sangrama of Baramullah district Mufti said that it is not just displaying signs of surrender on anticorruption front but it amounts to creating a space within the political system for wrong doing and immunity against mal practices.
“Blaming corruption on coalition politics is without logic as there have been good examples of coalition governments providing clean administration which are being admired universally,: Mufti said adding “even in Jammu & Kashmir the previous PDP-Congress coalition had scripted a success story in administration in spite of very difficult circumstances at a time when militancy was still on and the political system had just started reasserting itself”.
Mufti accused that the present government has virtually demolished all anti corruption agencies by initially delaying their constitution and later diluting their jurisdiction.
“It was for the Chief Minister as leader of the coalition to set examples of probity by submitting to scrutiny by institutions like State Accountability Commission (SAC). But instead of doing that the Chief Minister stopped the proceeding by getting a stay order from the court on technical reasons,” Mufti said adding “similarly, the rules governing the State Information Commission (SIC) were diluted to make the commission ineffective which virtually takes away the right to information which had been secured by the people of state after a long delay. The state Vigilance Commission (SVC) and vigilance department are completely defunct for the last four years”.
Expressing concern over the “inability of the government” to utilize developmental funds Mufti said that the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) had repeatedly pointed out lapses and instances of corruption in most of the schemes as a result of this the government has become a nightmare for the common man.
“Government has failed on all fronts and it is a matter of shame that central funds allocated to J&K were now diverted to north eastern states because of our inability to spend,” former chief minister accused.
