Jammu (Jammu and Kashmir) [India], January 30 : Jammu and Kashmir's Kulgam MLA and CPI(M) leader MY Tarigami on Friday called on the legislators of the state to discuss pertinent issues in the upcoming budget session of Jammu and Kashmir, claiming that the people's mandate has been made "powerless".
Speaking to reporters before attending the all-party meeting ahead of the upcoming budget session, Tarigami said that important issues such as unemployment, the demand for rationalising reservation policies in educational institutions, and the wage regularisation of daily wage workers will also be raised by opposition parties.
"The biggest problem is that the legislature is 'be-ikhtiyar', powerless, and the government too. The issue is that making the people's mandate powerless is not good for Jammu and Kashmir. Also, unemployment is a big issue for our youth. On the issue of reservation, some are demanding rationalisation. My view is that in these issues too debates should happen and take the views of the members," Tarigami told reporters.
The budget session of the Jammu and Kashmir assembly is set to commence in Jammu on February 2. Ahead of the session, Assembly Speaker Abdul Rahim Rather called for an all-party meeting, with Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and legislators from the National Conference, Congress, CPM, and BJP attending.
"Apart from that, with the question of regularisation for the daily wage labourers and casual labourers. Reports are also coming from all over that the freedoms and rights given to papers, our reporters, maybe their work is being obstructed, that is the complaint we are getting, we will debate on that," Tarigami added.
The issue of flood compensation for farmers will also be raised. Tarigami also called on the legislators to be united and drop talks of a separate Jammu and Kashmir.
"The damage done to crops due to flooding, how much compensation was given for that, whether the full amount was actually disbursed, and if not given why was that the case? We will question the officers and everyone involved. I would like to urge the assembly members, that talking about separating Jammu-Kashmir and other such are absurd things. We have to be together, we need to find the solution to our problems together," he said.
Meanwhile Congress leader Ghulam Ahmad Mir stressed that they want to use the session productively, including the question hour to ask important questions raised by the people.
"Once again, we will commence the general budget session on February 2. As a tradition, when the Speaker calls the business meeting, we will discuss the schedule, raise questions from the public, and the government will answer. The question hour should not be wasted. Other than that, whatever business comes we will discuss and deliberate," he told reporters before attending the BAC meeting.
This year, the government plans to continue efforts to reduce and ultimately eradicate unemployment, Mir said.
"We will talk about the steps which we had taken last year and show those achievements, and talk about the new steps to take, especially to eradicate unemployment, and to talk about the functioning of institutions," the Congress leader stressed.
Apart from CPM leader MY Tarigami and Congress' Ghulam Ahmad Mir, Jammu and Kashmir Bharatiya Janata Party MLA's Surjit Singh Salathia, Dilip Kumar, and RS Pathania; NC MLA Javed Rana; Independent MLA Muzafar Iqbal and others attended the meeting.
Multiple political parties are also expected to soon convene their legislative party meetings before the budget session starts.