Srinagar, May 11 — Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Monday termed the existing Union Territory arrangement in Jammu and Kashmir the “worst form of government”, asserting that the dual power structure had weakened governance and sidelined elected representatives from key administrative matters.
In an interview with PTI, Abdullah said Jammu and Kashmir’s size and political complexity could not be compared to smaller Union Territories like Puducherry and reiterated his demand for restoration of full statehood.
“I continue to maintain that view. I continue to believe that a system of Union Territory with an assembly is by far the worst form of government that you can come up with,” Abdullah said.
Questioning the rationale behind the current setup, he said, “Can you not see the difference between a tiny one with 30 MLAs and one with 90 MLAs? And you still believe that this current system is beneficial to Jammu and Kashmir after everything that happened last year?”
The Chief Minister said keeping elected representatives away from critical areas such as law and order had proved counterproductive, particularly in the aftermath of the Pahalgam tragedy.
He said several institutions that earlier functioned under the elected government — including universities, the Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences and the Power Development Corporation — should have remained within the elected administration’s domain.
“I am not even arguing on the central services, law and order, and police. As a Union Territory, those are automatically within the domain of the unelected government. But these were institutions that were previously the responsibility of the elected government. And they should be,” he said.
Despite differences with the Centre, Abdullah said progress had been made over the transaction of business rules and other governance issues.
“Again, as I said, we have made significant progress on these issues,” he said, adding that a proposal regarding the appointment of a new Advocate General had also been forwarded to the concerned authorities.
On the issue of summary dismissal of government employees without judicial inquiry, Abdullah termed the process “arbitrary” and “opaque”, saying such actions were unlikely to withstand court scrutiny.
“Look, everyone has the right to prove their innocence. For some reason, these employees were not given that opportunity,” he said.
“We will not be able to defend the dismissal of these employees in the courts. It will happen, you mark my words, because the process is arbitrary. The process is opaque. There is no clarity and transparency in the process,” he added.
Referring to his government’s welfare measures, Abdullah said the administration had operationalised several poll promises, including 200 units of free electricity and six free LPG cylinders for economically weaker households.
“Anybody above BPL should not be paying subsidised rates for electricity. They should pay the market rate,” he said, adding that subsidies should be targeted only toward the poorest sections.
The Chief Minister also referred to the restoration of the traditional biannual ‘Darbar Move’, saying it had helped reduce the emotional and administrative distance between Jammu and Kashmir.
“The distance between Jammu and Kashmir has reduced to a great extent,” Abdullah said, adding that employees from Jammu posted in Srinagar had developed stronger ties with their Kashmiri counterparts.
He accused “vested interests” of trying to create a political wedge between the two regions but said such efforts had failed.
“They have failed and they will continue to fail,” he said.
On the return of Kashmiri Pandits, Abdullah said the displaced community would only return once a genuine sense of security was restored.
“We want those who left in the late 80s, early 90s, to come back. I have always maintained that they left because their sense of security was snatched away. They will come back only when that sense of security is restored,” he said.
Targeting the BJP over the continued existence of migrant camps, Abdullah said, “Please ask the BJP how many more elections do they want to exploit their votes before actually doing something to bring them back.”
He credited former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for establishing the Jagti township and introducing job quotas for migrants, while claiming little had been done for the community afterward.
Abdullah also dismissed speculation about an imminent Cabinet reshuffle in Jammu and Kashmir, calling such reports “absolute lies”.