Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister and National Conference leader Omar Abdullah on Friday said his government will grant Chenab valley and Pir Panchal regions the status of division if his party is elected to power in the Assembly elections that are expected later this year.
His statement came hours after the state government ordered the creation of a separate administrative division for Ladakh region. This division will comprise Leh and Kargil districts and have its headquarters at Leh, according to a statement released by the state Department of Information and Public Relations. The state will now have three divisions – Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh.
“After the elections of 2019, should the people of J&K repose faith in [National Conference] , our government will grant division status to Chenab valley [and] Pir Panchal regions as already laid out in our regional autonomy promise,” Abdullah said in a tweet.
“We will take care of regional and sub-regional aspirations,” he added. “We won’t adopt the pick [and] choose approach of the Governor but will instead take a holistic view [and] address the wider problems. Our regional autonomy document will be our template.”
Ladakh region was earlier a part of the Kashmir division. The government statement said people in the region had raised persistent demands for the creation of a separate division due to topographic conditions, unique cultural status and that it deserved special treatment due to the distance from the capital Srinagar.
At present, hill development councils take care of local governance in Leh and Kargil. The government said both these districts remain cut off from the rest of the country for almost six months during winter. “The remoteness and inaccessibility of the area makes it eligible for establishing a separate division,” it said.
Peoples Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti welcomed the government’s decision but wondered why the state had ignored Chenab valley and Pir Panjal regions, which are also remote areas, PTI reported.
“Although Leh and Kargil already have hill development councils, we welcome the decision to grant division status to Ladakh,” Mufti, also a former chief minister, said. “But I fail to understand what is the intention behind ignoring Chenab Valley and Pir Panjal regions. These are remote areas, the terrain is hilly and population is much larger.”
“As far as I remember [during PDP-BJP coalition government], we were talking about granting division status to Chenab valley, Pir Panjal and Ladakh but BJP had opposed it,” she added.
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