SRINAGAR: Mubarak Gul, senior NC leader and former Speaker of the J&K Legislative Assembly, on Monday, criticised the government for its failure to take adequate measures to curb the rising number of road accidents in Jammu and Kashmir.
While interacting with senior colleagues of the party at Sher-e-Kashmir Bhawan here, the senior NC leader said that the LG-led administration has turned a blind eye towards the plight of people who are losing their lives in road accidents on a regular basis.
Gul expressed deep concern over the recent Assar Doda accident, in which 39 people lost their lives and nearly 17 received severe injuries. “Such incidents are a stark reminder of the government’s apathy towards the safety of its citizens. The government has failed to implement the recommendations of a committee formed during his tenure as Speaker of the J&K Assembly to curb road accidents,” Gul said. “The committee had submitted a comprehensive report with detailed recommendations, but the government has failed to act on it.”
The former Speaker said that the government’s inaction has resulted in the loss of countless lives and has caused immense pain and suffering to the families of the victims.
“The government needs to wake up from its slumber and take immediate action to address this issue,” he said, adding that the recommendations of the committee should be implemented without any further delay to stop frequent accidents in hilly areas.”
The NC leader also called for a thorough investigation into the Doda accident and said that those responsible for the tragedy should be held accountable. “The government needs to ensure that such incidents do not happen again. The safety of the people should be its top priority,” he added.
Rattan Lal Gupta, Provincial President JKNC Jammu, also raised serious concerns about the effectiveness of the Back to Village programs, stating that it has failed to address the issues raised during its implementation. He termed it as a futile attempt in wasting the hard-earned money of the public while carrying out such a wasteful exercise which serves no purpose.
Rattan Lal Gupta said that people have gheraoed the Administrative Officers during their visits to rural areas as the promises made with people remained unfulfilled.
“The government showed high-class hypocrisy by celebrating Cooperative Week after abolishing even the last one in J&K as if it was the enemy number one of this people’s movement, which was thriving in J&K during the tenures of NC governments,” Gupta said.
The senior NC leader said that Cooperative marketing societies and Cooperative banking had played a vital role in the farming sector, especially helping tillers to get fertilizers and seeds at affordable prices. “The government in seat had only used rhetoric to mislead the people and spread a bogus narrative against the previous regimes, but in actuality, things are contrary as the people helming the state of affairs failed this vital movement in the region although they are brazenly beating the drums in the shape of cooperative week celebrations trying to fool the people over the issue,” he said.
The Provincial President emphasised that the National Conference stands firm in its commitment to safeguard the interests of the people of Jammu and Kashmir and pledged to work tirelessly to address the grievances faced by the general public.
