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Mufti gives more 'power' to people

One of the lofty promises made by the new government headed by People's Democratic Party chief Mufti Mohammed Sayeed was to make power available to the people of Jammu and Kashmir.

And true to his word, the Mufti began his innings as chief minister by asking the power department to drastically reduce load-shedding.

In his inaugural speech as CM, the Mufti said, "Power now belongs to the masses... this will be ensured by giving them electric power for maximum hours during the day."

Till he took over the reins of the government, Kashmir had a daily curtailment of 15 hours in its electricity schedule. Load-shedding during peak hours was unavoidable, as almost all the daily chores of the locals like cooking, lighting and heating are done on electricity.

The overloaded systems often tripped, resulting in further cuts.

The chief engineer, electric maintenance and rural electrification, Moulvi Manzoor said power supply in the valley has been increased in accordance with the decision of the government. "The improvement in power supply was made possible by drawing additional power from the northern grid and by running the gas turbines during peak hours in morning and evening," he said.

Last year the exchequer had to pay Rs 1200 crores for getting power from the northern grid. The sum is colossal when seen in the backdrop of the state's shattered economy. The state owes Rs 600 crore to the northern grid.

Often during the six years of his governance, former chief minister Farooq Abdullah found it difficult to pay the wages of the state's three hundred thousand employees.

Now that the Mufti has ordered a daily curtailment of just four-and-a-half hours, the government will have to pay somewhere between Rs 3000 to Rs 5000 crores annually towards its electric bill.

This is just one implication of the Mufti's promise.

The government will take bigger risks by fulfilling its promises of withdrawing the Prevention of Terrorism Act and relocating the Special Operations Group, which earned notoriety for allegedly committing extra-judicial murders.

The Mufti has vowed to put an end to the SOG's "excesses against the common people of the state".

A police officer in Jammu confirmed that ever since the new dispensation assumed office, the SOG has not conducted any counter-insurgency operation.

"They are waiting for orders and as such their activities are on hold," he said on condition of anonymity.

Not only that, the Mufti has also promised to release from jails and interrogation centres many detainees against whom there are no established cases.

The promises are part of the common minimum programme adopted by the Congress-PDP alliance in the state.

A Kashmir watcher said: "Ironically, each point of the CMP has a different interpretation; one given by the PDP to the people of Kashmir and the other given by the Congress to keep its centrist countrywide agenda intact."

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