SRINAGAR: The Group of Concerned Citizens (GCC), Jammu and Kashmir, in a special meeting held in Srinagar, raised alarm over a series of pressing public issues and urged the government to take immediate and sustained action to address them. The group, comprising former bureaucrats, academics, and civil society members, released a detailed statement calling attention to systemic gaps in healthcare, unchecked land conversion, environmental degradation, and inadequate youth policy frameworks.
Highlighting the continuing burden on Srinagar’s hospitals, the group noted that despite the establishment of new medical colleges, specialised health services at the district level remain grossly inadequate. “This forces ordinary people to undertake difficult and costly journeys to Srinagar for treatment,” the group observed. They called for urgent measures to strengthen district-level healthcare infrastructure and demanded strict enforcement of the ban on private practice by doctors employed in government medical colleges and at SKIMS.
Given the rising cancer cases in the Union Territory, the GCC also called for setting up dedicated cancer hospitals in both Srinagar and Jammu to ensure access to timely and specialised care.
Turning to land use concerns, the group expressed deep concern over the widespread and unchecked conversion of agricultural land for construction, warning that such trends threaten J&K’s agrarian economy. “Agriculture, horticulture, and floriculture are among the highest contributors to the UT’s GDP and employment, after the services sector,” the statement said. The group proposed innovative measures such as promoting vertical farming, indoor crop cultivation, and the use of greenhouses during winter months to sustain farming activity.
On the issue of youth development, the group criticised the inadequacy of skilling and startup policies in J&K. “Unlike other parts of the country, there are no significant efforts here to train youth in future-ready technologies such as Artificial Intelligence,” the group lamented, urging the government to scale up both the ambition and scope of such initiatives to match the scale of unemployment.
Environmental degradation also figured prominently in the discussions. The GCC noted that rivers, lakes, and other water bodies are increasingly turning into dumping grounds for solid waste, including plastics and e-waste. They stressed the urgent need for public sensitisation against the use of non-biodegradable materials and demanded the formulation of a comprehensive waste management policy based on the four Rs: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, and Recover.
On infrastructure, the group supported rail connectivity projects such as the extension of the Katra-Baramulla line up to Kupwara and the proposed rail links from Jammu to Rajouri and Poonch. However, it called for careful scrutiny of any new lateral railway extensions within the Kashmir Valley, citing potential risks to agricultural land and residential areas.
The GCC concluded with an appeal to the government to prioritise the public interest in policymaking, warning that the cumulative neglect of these critical sectors was deepening social and economic distress across the Union Territory.
