Inking the truth | Shivang Satya Gupta | Editor-in-Chief
The Jammu and Kashmir government seems hit by policy paralysis as chaos is seen all over the state with everybody confused what to do and how to bring normalcy in the day today life of the people. Even though we still believe that this government needs some more time before we become judgmental but things are not in order and people are getting impatient in both the regions having divergent problems respectively. With secretariat moving to Jammu the temple city has suddenly become the focal point but nothing is changing on the ground as the new government does not seem to have framed a concrete governance policy as yet waiting for God knows who to frame the one for it. The people who were told that new work culture will be seen in the state are searching for the new work culture which seems visible only to the ministers and bureaucrats who churn out press notes day in and day out trying to make us believe that the state was being run smoothly and people were the happiest lot. However on ground no such happiness is seen and works of the people are not getting done even by bribing the officials resulting in frustration among the people. On the other hand there seems no policy of implementation of the promises made to the people in the charter of alliance even as packages are announced on every visit of the Prime Minister but the question is who will implement the packages as the work culture in the bureaucracy and administration has seen no change from the previous government. The only policy that seems in vogue in J&K these days is the VIP culture being enjoyed by the new entrants who are busy enjoying every bit of life without any clue how to redress the miseries of the people. A fine example of policy paralysis of the government and the administration can be seen on Jammu rods these days where sudden traffic surge is being witnessed choking each and every road of the city with nobody ready to take the responsibility to clear the mess. One wonders what the district administration has been doing after so called reviews prior to every big event when official press notes are churned out telling us how traffic arrangements and other facilities have been reviewed by the administration for smooth festival season while the chaos on roads tells a different tale. The problem with all this seems to be the policy paralysis that has hit the government as well as the officials following a parroted line of review meetings without having any fresh plan of how to deal with the changing situation. The long queues of traffic jams on every road has become a major irritant for the people as despite the fact that this traffic jam mess has been going on in the city for the last around one month neither traffic police nor the district administration has any concrete plan to ease it out rather the chaos confounds by the day. With the reopening of the Durbar in Jammu the next six months are likely to put further pressure on the city roads bringing the life of the citizens to a grinding halt. However in all this the VIPs have been going on smoothly as their fearsome pilot cars and security guards intimidate the ordinary citizens to make way for the super lords while the city is choked and left to suffocate and clear on its own. Is there anybody who will finally begin to govern if they have finished enjoying their new found VIP status?
