Credibility of Deputy Commissioner Office Poonch suffered a nosedive during the last four years; Land grabbers, anti-nationalists, corrupt forces were encouraged, while nationalists were targeted

Credibility of Deputy Commissioner Office Poonch suffered a nosedive during the last four years; Land grabbers, anti-nationalists, corrupt forces were encouraged, while nationalists were targeted

SALIL RAINA

(POONCH TODAY NEWS)

POONCH: The office of Deputy Commissioner is the highest office in any district that has huge credibility in the eyes of the public. The said office is responsible for implementing government policies on the ground and formulating developmental plans in addition to addressing the public issues and security issues with the help of law enforcement agencies as a priority.

But during the last four years, the district saw three deputy commissioners, who graced this highest chair in the district. As the J&K was converted into a UT, the LG’s administration was entrusted with the job of providing development and justice to the people at their doorsteps, but the Poonch district witnessed otherwise, as there was no one who was ever ready to address the public grievances on priority. People felt hopeless as the office of the Deputy Commissioner Poonch started coming in the news on account of unparliamentary activities and throwing dust in the eyes of the common man on various important issues. During these four years, land grabbers, anti-national forces, some NGOs and trusts, and corrupt forces were fully protected and encouraged, while nationalist forces who worked as whistleblowers by raising the issues of corruption and exposing anti-national forces were targeted frequently. In lieu of hefty favors, titles of various lands were changed to commercial by the said office. Moreover, illegal stone crushers and petrol pumps were allowed to be opened in violation of various government rules by indulging in hand-in-glove acts by changing the land status. Many big business houses were threatened for various favors on the plea of some revenue lacunas. There was an impression in the Poonch city that without paying favors, no work from the Deputy Commissioner’s office was possible. A prominent crusher owner was asked for a favor for the said office, and when the owner failed to do so, the authorities of the administration seized the crusher, and after some time, the crusher was allowed to be operated after the said office received the favor. Likewise, many big projects, including some crushers, were allowed to operate near places of historical importance with the involvement of the top office. Moreover, in a shocking development, the DC office allowed construction of Joggers Park in the “Red Zone” with an indirect attempt to legalize all the illegal constructions in the “Red Zone.” On the one hand, the district administration in the years 2014 and 2018 declared the area as a “Red Zone” and banned any type of construction in the said area, but the Deputy Commissioner office allowed the construction of a Jogger Park to protect the land grabbers in the said area. At the same time, a minority family tried to construct a tin shed in the ‘Red Zone’ area, but the same was demolished by the administration on the plea that no construction of any kind was allowed in the ‘red zone.’ The video of the said minority family, which is available with “POONCH TODAY,” leveled serious allegations of partiality against the administration with the minority community members while completely favoring land grabbers to construct illegal structures in the “Red Zone.” This shows that the Deputy Commissioner office unfortunately introduced the concept of ‘partiality’ and ‘dadagiri’ in administrative matters as innocent and helpless people were targeted, while land grabbers were allowed to construct buildings in the same “Red Zone.” Imagine the state of affairs of the district administration that a number of illegal structures have been constructed in front of a big culvert. Some culverts are still under illegal occupation of land grabbers. Moreover, an irrigation canal was also captured, and on it, a number of shops have been constructed. The embankment of PWD has also been encroached, and all this happened due to the unparliamentary activities of the Deputy Commissioner’s office in Poonch over the years. To hoodwink the people, the Deputy Commissioner’s office launched a self-proclaimed anti-encroachment drive near the Poonch fort in the name of development of the Poonch fort, in which shops of innocent people were demolished. Later, some unplanned works without any logic were executed on the north side of Poonch Fort by threatening an officer of the municipality to arrange the funds, just to show the public that the DC office has a huge vision for Poonch. The same incomplete work, which was carried out without any plan or funding, shows that the said office tried to throw taxpayers’ money into the dustbin with these unplanned works. The double standard of the former DC came to light when he was seen demolishing the shops of innocents near the Poonch fort while at the same time, he indirectly protected the big land grabbers inside the “Red Zone” by directing for the construction of an ill-planned joggers park by throwing the government money into the Poonch River for which an investigation is needed. After the construction of the said ‘Joggers Park,’ a number of illegal structures have come up in the same ‘Red Zone,’ which poses a big threat to Poonch City if a flood of high Intensity comes in the future. It showed that the main motto of the Deputy Commissioner’s office was to implement different rules for poor and influential people. “An inquiry should be initiated against the PHE, PDD, and PWD departments to know how government funds were used in the said area by providing electric and water connections to the people there,” said a senior citizen. If the two deputy commissioners remained in the news for bad reasons, the other DC spent his time in fruitless activities, as no major developmental initiatives were taken during his tenure, although he was seen very active in the media limelight doing various works, but on the ground, nothing was visible. In a shocking revelation, a former DC also protected the land grabbers by throwing dust into the eyes of the government and high court by sending wrong facts (a copy of the report is available with “POONCH TODAY”) related to a high-profile land scam case in the district might be under a hand-in-glove influence, and this clearly shows how the state of affairs was in the Poonch district during the last four years. Due to the double standard approach of the office of Deputy Commissioner during the last four years, the credibility of the top office has suffered a nosedive. Moreover, when the office of Deputy Commissioner was active in several wrongdoings, some renowned sycophants and govt employees cum self-styled civil society members, some NGOs, self-styled presidents and chairmen of various questionable groups, and some trusts were seen with their presence around the Deputy Commissioners without any invitation in every program of the administration with an agenda to grab business benefits for themselves by singing songs in praise in favor of Deputy Commissioners. Some of them have bad credentials against the nation, and the leakage of internal information related to the administration and police by them to anti-national elements cannot be ruled out, as they used to attend every program of the police and the civil administration without any invitation. Other than these “paid sycophants” of the administration who remained experts in “boot licking” of the Deputy Commissioner Office for their personal favor, the people at large were not happy with the weak performance of the Deputy Commissioner Office during the last four years. Even some people known for their questionable and anti-national credentials were recommended for various favors from the UT government by the Deputy Commissioner’s office. “POONCH TODAY” is in possession of some documents that show that brazen misuse of funds has taken place with the huge involvement of the Planning section and the office of Deputy Commissioner Poonch. Funds in thousands of crores were allocated for Poonch under different plans, but how and where those funds were utilized is still a big mystery, as the tainted officers looted the funds at their own will. In the multi-crore PWD bunker scam, the Jal Jeevan scam of the PHE department, land scams, the NHM scam of the Health Department, the theft case of the Poonch city record of the revenue department, and heavy frauds in some other departments, the officers looted the funds brazenly. Shockingly, some self-proclaimed activists also used the situation through the transparency act (RTI) with their folded hands and earned heavily from some departments, as they were fully aware of massive loot in those departments. Those forces who were active in exposing the corrupt and anti-nationals were targeted, and it shows that during the last four years, the Poonch district witnessed a huge administrative deficit on the ground. During the last four years, hundreds of crores of rupees were misused by the tainted officers, and it would be better if a high-level CBI or ACB inquiry is initiated department-wise and scheme-wise to detect various multi-crore scams in the Poonch administration to bring to justice those who remained part and parcel of various financial crimes. On the one hand, the union government many times said that by scrapping Article 370, the people have gotten justice, but at the same time, it’s the people of Poonch who witnessed an advanced dictatorship from the office of Deputy Commissioner Poonch during this period. In the list of various administrative inefficiencies, the whereabouts of the Poonch administration were not known during ‘Operation Sindoor’; as a result, 13 innocent people sacrificed their lives for the nation. During those horrible days of Pakistan’s attack on the Poonch, the people were helpless and without any support from the administration. The big question that comes into the mind of everybody is, ‘Has the LG’s administration taken the people of Poonch for granted for their innocence and nationalism? Who will protect the people of Poonch with such types of administrative ‘Dadagiri’ and ‘Inefficiencies,’ as the people just want peace, development, and the solving of their routine grievances as a priority? Now, it would be interesting to see how the new Deputy Commissioner Ashok Sharma would tackle the situation while encountering massive challenges ahead. Will he join the elite club of failed deputy commissioners or prove himself as an asset for the Poonch? Only time will tell.