Protests against anti-people policies of authorities in IIOJK
Jammu: Protest demonstrations were held in the Jammu region of Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir against the anti-people policies of the authorities.
According to Kashmir Media Service, the activists of Jammu and Kashmir National Conference staged a protest at Mankote in Mendhar Sub Division, demanding restoration of democracy in occupied Jammu and Kashmir and probe into the embezzlement of funds in the area.
Led by Pir Panjal Zone president of Congress, Javed Ahmed Rana, the protesters assembled in Mankote to highlight the pressing need for revitalizing grassroots democracy in the territory.
Addressing the media during the protest, Javed Rana voiced concerns over the expiry of the tenure of elected members of Urban Local Bodies and Panchayats, indicating a troubling decline in grassroots democracy. He emphasized the lack of acceptance for the continuation of the District Development Councils system of Governance by the public.
He also raised serious concern over the embezzlement of funds earmarked for various government schemes in the area. The schemes under scrutiny include those administered by the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY), Tribal Sub Plan funds, District Plan and State Plan.
Protesting against the multi-fold hike in power bills, the residents of Arigatoo village, located on the foothills of Pir Panjal mountain range demanded the rollback of additional power tariffs.
Miffed protesters told the media that the area witnessed at least 50 percent rise in the monthly power tariffs in recent months. “We have been experiencing a steep rise in the power bills for the last two years”, they said. The protesters said that their monthly power bills had jumped from Rs 350 to staggering Rs 1300 over the past two years.
Ghulam Mohammad, a resident, said that floods had put an additional strain on the village, which was already caught in the grip of poverty.“We are still struggling to recover from losses incurred during the deluge”, said Mohammad. He said that if the authorities did not roll back the power tariffs then it would be better for them to remove the electric polls from the area.
The Private Schools Body in Jammu staged a protest against the government order to tag “on roll” students of around 60 private academic institutions operating on proprietary land, as having “expired affiliations, with government schools.
The private school body gathered at Dogra Chowk in Jammu and staged the “unwarranted” shift of students from low-budget private schools to government educational institutions.
A protesting private school owner, whose institution has been serving the community for four decades, expressed his dismay over the decision and said that tagging of students was uncalled for.
“Our schools have been established for around 40 years, and today they have shifted our students to government schools without giving any breathing time to the management of the private schools,” she lamented.
She further said the government decision to tag the students was open discrimination against these institutions. “But we will continue the protest until our demands are met,” she said.
Another private school owner opposed the student-tagging strategy and appealed to the authorities to reconsider the decision on humanitarian grounds.
Life Insurance Corporation employees in Jammu observed ‘one hour walk-out strike’ preceding lunch recess across LIC offices of J&K in support of their long pending demands.
Speaking on the occasion, leaders of the protesting employees expressed resentment against the authorities. The protesting employees stressed on negotiations on wage revision at the earliest as more than one year has already passed and the wage revision is still due.
Road Transport Corporation Volunteer Retired Employees Association held a strong protest in Jammu for not clearing their pending dues. The protest was held under the leadership of Dev Raj Bali, President of VRS Union, Jammu. He strongly criticized the behavior of the Finance Department and higher authorities of the Transport Department. They claimed that they have time and again raised their long pending demands but authorities have turned blind eye and completely failed to address their issues.
