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Common Minimum Programme of the Congress-I,
People’s Democratic Party coalition government in Jammu and Kashmir
Following the September-October
2002 Legislative Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir, the Indian
National Congress, better known as Congress-I and the People’s Democratic
Party entered into a coalition agreement to form the government
in the State. The coalition, on October 27, 2002 announced a Common
Minimum Programme (CMP), outlining the goals of the ruling coalition
and the strategy that would be adopted to achieve those goals. Presented
below is the complete text of the CMP. |
27.10.2002
Elements
of a Common Minimum Programme for the Coalition Government
Objectives:
- The Goal of the
Coalition Government is to heal the physical, psychological and emotional
wounds inflicted by fourteen years of militancy, to restore the rule
of law in Jammu & Kashmir State, to complete the revival of the
political process which was begun by the recently concluded elections,
and to request the Government of India to initiate and hold, sincerely
and seriously, wide ranging consultations and dialogue, without conditions,
with the members of the legislature and other segments of public opinion
in all the three regions of the State, to evolve a broad-based consensus
on restoration of peace with honour in the State.
- Ensuring safety
of lives and properties, restoring dignity and honour of all persons
in the State will be the foremost concern of the Government. The Coalition
Government will take all possible measures within its power, to protect
all the people in the State of Jammu and Kashmir from violence and
militancy, whether originating from within or outside the State, and
to encourage those youngmen from the State who have resorted to militancy
to return to their families and the mainstream, with the belief that
they will receive security and justice according to law. At the same
time, the State Government will fully cooperate with the Government
of India in combating cross-border militancy originating from Pakistan.
Restoring
Peace and Normalcy and Curbing Corruption:
- The Government
shall review all cases of detainees being held without trial for long
periods. It shall release all detainees held on non-specific charges,
those not charged with serious crimes and those who have been held
on charges that are such that the period they have spent in jail exceeds
their possible sentence.
- The Government
shall review the operation of all such laws that have been used in
the past decade to deprive people of their basic rights to life and
liberty for long periods of time, without due legal process. Where
the Government deems that some special powers need to be retained,
it will ensure, by instituting careful and transparent pre-screening
and monitoring procedures, that such powers are used sparingly and
those entrusted with them are held accountable for any misuse.
- All cases of
custodial killings and violations of Human Rights shall be investigated
and persons responsible for them will be identified and punished appropriately.
- The Government
shall strengthen the State Human Rights Commission to make it an effective
instrument for addressing the grievances of the people of the State.
- The Government
shall formulate a comprehensive relief and rehabilitation package
for those families affected by militant violence over the past decade.
The ex-gratia relief at Rupees one lakh per deceased person in militant
violence will be raised to Rs. 2 lakhs. In recruitment to Government
posts, preference will be given to one member of each family where
an innocent member has been killed in the militancy related violence.
- The Government
shall implement special schemes to rehabilitate former militants who
have forsworn violence and rejoined the mainstream.
- The Government
will reach out to the children, widows and parents of the deceased
militants and make endeavours to provide education to the militancy-affected
orphans.
- The Government
reaffirms that the return of Kashmiri Pandits to their motherland
is an essential ingredient of Kashmiriat. The Government will seek
the cooperation of all elements in the society to create an atmosphere
conducive to their safe return, will take all necessary steps to ensure
their safety and devise effective -measures for their rehabilitation
and employment.
- The Government
will approach the Government of India for providing adequate financial
assistance for the relief and rehabilitation of the migrants from
various disturbed areas of Jammu and Ladakh as well.
- Persons living
close to the line of control and the international border face special
difficulties due to recurrent tension and cross border violence. Permanent
shelters will be constructed in all vulnerable areas to prevent loss
of life. The Government will also devise a scheme to provide, wherever
feasible, alternative land to such families in safe zones.
- The Government
shall pursue the matter of due compensation to those people from the
border areas of Jammu and Kashmir who have suffered loss of crop and
cattle due to security operations near LOC and the International border.
- The Government
shall give top priority to ridding the State administration of corruption
and nepotism, especially in the award of Government jobs and contracts
and places in institutions of higher learning. It will endeavour to
make the selection process to all those positions and institutions
fully transparent.
- The Government
shall establish an institution or "Ehtisab’ for enquiring into
complaints received against Chief Minister/Ministers and MLAs. The
appointment to this post shall be made by the Chief Minister in consultation
with the Chief Justice of the State High Court and the Leader of Opposition
in the Legislative Assembly.
- A Commission
will be setup to make recommendations for reform of the Police Administration
to make it a more effective and humane instrument for investigation
of crimes and for enforcement of law and order. The Government will
ensure that the personnel in Special Operation Group (SOG) are assimilated/relocated
within the regular police establishment.
- The Coalition
Government considers that there are enough laws in existence to deal
with militancy. Therefore, it will not implement POTA in the State.
Employment
Oriented Development Strategy:
- Our Government
shall make sincere efforts to ensure that all the three regions of
the State - Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh receive an equitable share of
resources available for development. It shall set up a State Finance
Commission with a statutory status for this purpose and. the effort
will be to ensure that the backlog of development and employment at
the regional and district levels is made good within a specified time
frame.
- The Government
shall press upon the Government of India for the inclusion of Dogri
in the 8th Schedule of the Indian Constitution.
- The Government
shall grant full powers to the Autonomous Hill Council for Leh, which
has hitherto been deprived of its legitimate powers. Efforts will
be made to persuade the people of Kargil to accept a similar Autonomous
Hill Council for Kargil. The Government will press upon the Government
of India to connect the Kargil airport to Jammu, Srinagar and Delhi.
- Our Government
will give top priority to the preparation of an employment oriented
medium term development plan laying particular emphasis on the development
of agriculture, horticulture, handicrafts, tourism, information technology,
food processing and environment friendly industrial activities. Efforts
will be made to evolve a development strategy, which provides at least
one productive job per family.
- Employment and
welfare of the youth will receive special attention. Measures will
be taken to help those youth who have fallen victim to drug abuse
and narcotics due to frustration and unemployment.
- High priority
will be given to the development of power resources of the State and
to extend the benefit of electricity to all villages of the State.
The State Government will ask the Central Government to ensure that
the power generation in the State should be available to the maximum
extent possible for meeting the needs of the State.
- Special emphasis
will be laid on provision of basic minimum needs such as provision
of safe drinking water, sanitation, rural roads, primary health care
and elementary education and school buildings.
- A new scheme
will be prepared to universalize access to elementary education for
all children. Services of unemployed graduates will be utilized for
this purpose.
- A comprehensive
plan for the development of environment friendly tourism in all the
three regions of the State will be prepared bringing the hinterland
districts on the tourist map of the State. Special measures will be
taken to facilitate and protect pilgrim related tourism.
- Panchayati Raj
institutions will be given both functional autonomy and adequate financial
support for making them an effective instrument for decentralized
development. Early elections will be held wherever they are due.
- Keeping in view
that women have borne the brunt of violence in more ways than one
over the past decade, special welfare programmes will be designed
for women such as widow pensions, subsistence allowance for women
headed households and self-employment schemes for young women.
- Special emphasis
will be laid on promotion of welfare of backward communities including
Gujjars, Bakarwals and Gaddis, scheduled castes and tribes. The Government
will strive for the extension of scheduled tribes status to the Pahari
speaking population of the State.
- Effective measures
will be taken to check unplanned and unauthorized growth of towns
and cities. Jammu and Srinagar municipalities will be given the status
of corporations to ensure orderly development of all civic facilities.
Effective measures will be taken for orderly growth of towns and cities
and for provision of basic civic amenities thereof.
- All the three
regions of the State have got religious minorities, which face special
problems. The Government shall give full protection to the minorities
and safeguard their rights. A Minority Commission will be constituted
to look after the interests of minority communities.
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