Omar Govt accountable to people: Deputy CM

Jammu, Dec 28: Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Kumar Choudhary Saturday asserted that the government led by the Chief Minister Omar Abdullah was accountable to people, whose aspirations would be met as a priority agenda.

Warning against “truant practices”, he reiterated that strict action would be taken against delinquent officials or officers who too were accountable to people and government.

He was responding to media queries after inspecting the functioning of different departments in Udyog Bhawan, where he found “few employees absent from duties.”

“No, this is not a surprise inspection. I had come here to review the functioning of departments related to industries, including Mining under my charge. You (media) too would have seen everything. Situation was there in front of all of us. I’ve conducted an inspection. This will be followed by a thorough review. I will call Heads of Departments (HoDs) and deliberate with them,” Choudhary said. He assured that action would be taken against the officials found absent from duties.

“Government is working with a great responsibility as it is directly accountable to people. It is imperative that the government employees, taking cue from the government, understand their responsibilities and fulfill their duties towards people. It is expected that the media will also act responsibly and will not resort to sensationalism,” the Deputy Chief Minister said.

“I hope that the employees will understand their duties and in future, will rectify lapses observed today and will not resort to such (truant) activities in future,” he said.

While responding to queries about protest on account of the ropeway project, Choudhary said, “The decision is wrong. If the people don’t want it as it will snatch the livelihood of over 40000 people. The Shrine Board and the Lieutenant Governor Sahib should engage with the protesters to address their concerns.”

Meanwhile a government spokesperson said that the Deputy Chief Minister conducted an inspection of various departments including Industries and Commerce; SICOP; JK Minerals; Geology & Mining and Handicrafts department.

He also inspected the working of the Mechanical Engineering Department at Bikram Chowk Jammu.

The Deputy Chief Minister had a detailed review of the functioning of all these departments. He asked the concerned officers to step up efforts ensuring that the schemes of their respective departments were implemented effectively.

While interacting with the officials, the Deputy Chief Minister asked for fast pacing of various developmental initiatives being undertaken by the government. He also stressed upon them to ensure that the public service deliverance mechanism is speeded up so that the people do not face any inconvenience, the spokesperson said.

“We should be available to the general public so as to have maximum outreach which would ensure need based and proper implementation of various government initiatives,” maintained the Deputy Chief Minister.