Members meet Manmohan, want end to discrimination
The Jammu Intellectual Forum has demanded autonomous regional councils for all three regions of the state to put an end to the discrimination against Jammu.
A 14-member deputation of the forum favoured the constitutional set-up for the Jammu, Ladakh and Kashmir regions during its 40-minute meeting with former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who heads the ‘policy planning group’ of the party, in Jammu on Sunday evening.
Headed by KB Jandial, a retired IAS officer, the delegation comprised retired civil servants, academicians, ex-servicemen, businessmen, media persons and social activists.
Expressing concern over the discrimination against Jammu by successive governments, Jandial asked the Congress to initiate a process for consultations with other parties and evolve a constitutional arrangement of autonomous regional councils for each region, leaving no scope of discrimination.
He said residents of Jammu were upset with the discrimination against the region, and if, the matter was not addressed urgently, it would lead to disastrous consequences.
Giving the data of the five-year plans from 1992 to 2007, Jandial said despite having more than 10,000 sqkm area, Jammu had got Rs 700 crore against Rs 916 crore for Kashmir during the period.
The forum expressed concern over the declining share of the Jammu region in jobs and said people had lost faith in the state’s recruitment agencies. He said the demand for a separate Public Service Commission for Jammu was gaining momentum. It said the concept of the regional council with separate service cadre could take care of the issue of fair recruitment.
