10,000-strong members to be crucial factor in Udhampur-Doda
A strong army of over 10,000 Special Police Officers and thousands of Village Defence Committee members hailing from the hilly districts of Doda, Kishtwar, Ramban, Reasi are emerging as one of the crucial factor to tilt the balance in favour of the winning candidate from the Udhampur-Doda lok Sabha seat.
In the election season anger is visible on their faces. At present these SPOs have been receiving honorarium to the tune of Rs 3,000 per month. However, a proposal to hike the honorarium to Rs 5,000 is pending with the Centre. Despite repeated reminders and long struggle in support of their demand the SPOs have failed to earn justice.
With no hope of early settlement of their grievances in sight these SPOs are feeling the pinch of rising prices as they are not in a position to feed their own families. “We cannot survive on a paltry sum of Rs 3,000 and for a long time, we are awaiting clearance from the Central Government,” agitated SPOs revealed.
Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad locked in a close contest with the BJP candidate Jitendra Singh is also facing the heat on ground zero as people are seeking answers behind the unwarranted delay.
The local residents in the area feel when the Centre Government has announced rehabilitation packages for surrendered militants in the State and designed a separate policy to help them restart their lives why they are immune towards the genuine demands of SPOs fighting militancy alongside State police.
According to official sources, more than 10,000 SPOs are working in the hilly Doda region and their aggrieved families enjoy support of sizable population in the area to turn the tables against the candidate of their choice.
According to the statistics shared by the Home department in the State Assembly last year, the maximum number of 3,881 SPOs have been engaged in Doda, 2,272 in Kishtwar, 1,178 in Kishtwar, 989 in Udhampur, 901 in Ramban and 866 in Reasi.
Meanwhile, as the campaigning is peaking in the last leg ahead of April 17 voting day, the BJP has further intensified its campaign in the region to expose the double speak of the alliance leaders seeking votes in the area.
The BJP leaders are trying to reach out to the disgruntled family members of SPOs in remote areas with a message to teach a befitting lesson to leaders who have been ignoring the plight of their children.
Helping BJP in their fight against the Congress candidate is a former Inspector General of State police, Farooq Khan.
Khan is currently touring the Kishtwar and Doda districts and holding small public meetings reminding the local residents how alliance partners in the state failed to provide justice to SPOs and the Village Defence Committees.
While addressing the series of election rallies in Bhalla, Charral and Udherana area of district Doda,Farooq Khan, who is the founder of VDCs in erstwhile Doda district said that the SPO and the VDC members have given their life and blood to fight out terrorism in the State but justice is not done with the brave fighters. He accused the Congress and the National Conference of exploiting the true nationalist by not addressing their long pending demands and asked the people to vote for BJP and teach the Congress and the National Conference a befitting lesson.
Raking up the issue of Kishtwar riots, BJP candidate Jitendra Singh instantly established a chord with the audience and announced if voted to power the BJP Government would order an impartial probe into the Kishtwar riots that took place on August 9, 2013.
He said the Justice RC Gandhi Commission of Inquiry instituted by the Congress-National Conference Coalition Government was a mere sham motivated by the design to rehabilitate the coalition Minister who had been implicated for instigating communal attacks on minority community.
Till date, neither the losses incurred by the business community have been compensated nor the culprits responsible for riots brought to the book, he alleged.