Cooperative Governance: Need of the hour in J&K
Reports in the media about development projects under PMGSY, NABARD and Capex lying in limbo, and vacancies of engineers in the field, and another report about lack of proper buildings for schools in Srinagar city and the lament of concerned MLAs about growing frustration among their constituents is not good news for the elected government and calls for urgent attention of the officers at the helm in the secretariat. Release of funds and accord of administrative approvals in a timely manner are primarily the responsibility of the administrative secretaries and one cannot blame the ministers unless they have been sitting on files submitted to them.
If release of funds from the central ministries and the finance ministry is getting delayed for inexplicable reasons, then CM must take it up at the highest level in GOI. At the administrative level, timely release of funds from the central ministries and finance ministry can be coordinated at Delhi through JS (Kashmir) in MHA and the Resident Commissioner of J&K at Delhi. An officer in the PMO dealing with J&K matters is often brought into the loop to facilitate timely approvals and releases for J&K. Hope this time tested mechanism has not fallen into disuse during long periods of President’s rule in J&K ?
UT’s elected government deserves support to govern well
Elected government in the UT of Jammu and Kashmir was installed in October 2024 after successful conclusion of supreme court directed assembly elections. Now it must run its full term unless good fortune smiles over the people of J&K and the lost statehood is restored before the end of the term after which fresh elections may become necessary. Till then any attempt, overt or covert, to weaken or disturb the duly elected government will have consequences that will not be in the interest of the people of Jammu and Kashmir. J&K has already suffered in the past as a result of political manipulations carried out through questionable means. People will not approve of any political manipulation now to undo a duly earned mandate. At the present juncture when the elected government is about to complete a year in office, its credibility is intact. It is functioning in a difficult ecosystem where it is clearly not in the picture in the matters of security and posting of senior officers and yet it has been able to restore people’s say in governance. Hundreds of people from all over the UT are meeting MLAs, Ministers and the CM with their grievances on almost daily basis.
Hopefully, many of the grievances are redressed. More importantly, there are so many elected persons to receive and hear grievances which has greatly facilitated the common man, particularly those living in far flung areas, who otherwise had little or no access to higher authorities for over six years since the fall of the BJP-PDP coalition government in 2018. It is therefore need of the hour to support the elected government to help it govern well.
Need for better coordination with LG’s office
If it is true that ‘business rules’ (procedures to be followed in the transaction of official work) so painstakingly framed in the secretariat under the guidance of the chief secretary and cleared by the council of ministers are still unapproved for last many months, then there is really a problem. A case in point that has appeared in the media is about the appointment of Advisor to CM whose terms and conditions are still unfixed despite the order having been issued a year ago in October, 2024. Then there is the issue of posting and transfer of senior officers where the elected government seems to be out of picture on most occasions. It was expected that proposals for transfer and posting of All India Service (AIS) officers will originate from the secretariat and after approval of the CM or council of ministers, would go to the LG for final approval. But quite unfortunately, it seems it does not work this way which automatically leads to lack of control of the CM and ministers over the administration which creates a situation of ‘responsibility without authority’.
The cure lies in cooperation between the civil secretariat and LG’s office and for the LG’s office to accept recommendations and proposals coming from the CM and council of ministers without changes unless there are good grounds for any changes to be made.
Elected government must focus on result oriented governance
When the elected government took over in October 2024, it had a manifesto (NC’s election manifesto) to work on and then through direct interaction with civil society at Srinagar and Jammu, the Chief Minister and his colleagues collected enough material for things to do during their tenure in the short term and long term. One does not know for sure to what extent the manifesto commitments have been fulfilled or the issues raised by the civil society. But the broader understanding and impression is that not much has been achieved on ground. It will, however, not be correct to say that the day to day administration has become lax or inept under the elected government. There is no such impression among the public. On the other hand digital governance in many areas of administration initiated a few years back is holding and facilitating provision of efficient public service.
The main issues that deserve the attention of the elected government are improving the finances of the UT to reduce excessive dependence on central government, improving infrastructure in both rural and urban areas, providing quality services in health and education sectors, improving urban basic services and solid waste management, arresting across the board environmental degradation and pursuing policies in all areas of economy that promote wage employment, startups and self- employment of the educated youth. The elected government must also expedite elections to municipalities and panchayats to achieve local self government in the urban areas and decentralized governance down to village level in the rural areas.
It is also important for the elected government to check on new initiatives being taken in other states to align the UT’s progress with the main objectives under important central and centrally sponsored schemes and umbrella programs like Digital India, Viksit Bharat etc. There is also great scope for adoption of new technologies in solving existing problems and for involving private sector in the development process and provision of public services. The efficiencies associated with private sector participation have never been fully utilized in Jammu and Kashmir on the pretext of absence of strong and progressive private sector within.
Spirit of cooperation must prevail
The Reorganization Act of 2019 envisages a free hand to CM and the council of ministers to enable them to work freely in their sphere of responsibility. Quite naturally therefore, the Act does not envisage statutory authorities like the LG or the Chief Minister or the council of ministers to work in adversarial manner. A spirit of cooperation must permeate the entire apparatus of administration to enable cooperative governance. Only cooperative governance will lead to good governance.
(Khurshid Ahmed Ganai is a retired IAS officer of the erstwhile J&K cadre and former Advisor to Governor, J&K)
