CM rules out new admin units

Jammu, Feb 7: Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said on Saturday that the government currently had no plans of creating new administrative units, as priority was to operationalise previously established ones.

CM Omar made this intervention during the Question Hour on supplementary queries raised by MLA Khanyar, Salman Ali Sagar and several other members, regarding the demand for carving out a new tehsil by bifurcating certain areas falling under Eidgah and Srinagar North tehsils.

Informing the House, the CM said that the governmentís focus was to make the already created administrative units in J&K fully functional.

He said that most of the MLAs had met him and expressed concern over the non-functioning of several units established in the past.

“It is impractical to demand new units when existing ones remain non-operational,” CM Omar said.

He said that the government would consider creation of new administrative units only after ensuring full functionality of the existing ones.

Earlier, Minister for Jal Shakti, Javed Ahmad Rana, replying on behalf of the CM, who holds the Revenue portfolio, told the Legislative Assembly that services in Eidgah tehsil and Srinagar North tehsil were being delivered efficiently to the people well within the prescribed timeframe under the Public Services Guarantee Act (PSGA).

He said that the existing infrastructure and manpower were being optimally utilised to ensure smooth delivery of services.

Responding to a question on whether the government intends to consider the persistent public demand for carving out a new Tehsil by bifurcating areas under Eidgah and North Tehsils, the minister said that there was no such proposal presently under consideration in the department.

Legislators Abdul Majeed Larmi and Tanvir Ali Sadiq raised supplementary questions on the subject.