Bureaucrats don’t take my directions seriously in present set up: CM Omar

Says when he was head of State an officer would tell him 10 ways how things can be done, in UT he gives 10 reasons why it can’t be done

By: Peerzada Umar

Srinagar: Jammu & Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Wednesday said that the bureaucracy is no longer taking his directions seriously. He stated that during his tenure as the chief minister of a full-fledged state, bureaucrats would act on his instructions promptly and resolve matters on priority.

Speaking to former Union Law Minister Kapil Sibal on the latter’s YouTube channel “Dil Se Kapil Sibal”, Omar said that the recent terror attack in Baisaran, Pahalgam was aimed at stoking communal tensions in the country.

“It’s not possible to deploy forces at every location. The attack on Baisaran and Pakistan’s retaliatory operation — both were attempts to incite religious conflict here,” Omar said during the conversation.

He also took a jibe at former U.S. President Donald Trump over his reported rift with tech entrepreneur Elon Musk. “Mr. Trump, who cannot remain loyal even to his own friends — how can we expect him to stay loyal to us?” he remarked.

Speaking the shift in governance post the revocation of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status, Omar said that bureaucrats no longer act with the same sense of urgency. “Jab main riyasat ka mukhya mantri tha, jab main kisi afsar se kehta tha ke yeh karna hai — woh mujhe 10 tareeqe batata tha ke kis tarah ho sakta hai. Aaj jab main kisi afsar ko kehta hoon ke yeh karna hai, woh mujhe 10 wajahen batata hai ke yeh kyun ho nahi sakta. [When I was the Chief Minister of the state, if I told an officer to do something, he would tell me ten ways how it could be done.

Today, if I tell an officer to do something, he gives me ten reasons why it cannot be done].”

He further said, “I accept that there are some places where having a Legislative Assembly may not be feasible — either due to sparse population or small geographical area — like Daman, Diu, Lakshadweep, and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. But where Assemblies are feasible — such as Puducherry or Jammu and Kashmir — what is the point of keeping them as Union Territories? You allow a government to form, but then you tie its hands behind its back.”

Omar questioned the rationale behind the removal of Article 370, stating that it has made little difference in terms of what could or couldn’t be achieved.

“I asked this exact question to my BJP friends during the budget session in Jammu in March: ‘Tell me — what is the one thing that has been done in Jammu and Kashmir after August 5, 2019, that could not have been done before that date?’ I am still waiting for an answer,” Omar said. —(KNO)