Govt response to floods pathetic: Naeem Akhtar

Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Tuesday lashed out at the Omar Abdullah government for being insensitive, indifferent towards the problems of the food sufferers and said the way loot, embezzlement of even relief materials is going on at the hands of the ruling party politicians is enough to suggest about their shameless mindset, dishonesty and extreme selfishness.
“After having badly damaged the whole system during last six years and now miserably failing to respond to the tragedy the ruling party politicians are not still coming out of their age old practices of loot and dirty methods to cash in on the sufferings of the people that too after drowning them,” the party Chief Spokesperson, Naeem Akhtar said while interacting with the party workers in Gogaldara, Baderkoot, Kolhama and Tomberhama in Tangmarg area of North Kashmir.
He also said with a view on the forthcoming elections the government is also making backdoor appointments and transfers of their blue-eyed officials particularly at village levels.  He said even the some ruling party leaders are now seeking “probe” into appointments made in various departments by their own government, owning to widespread corruption.
He said hundreds of truck loads of rice are missing from the godowns of Kashmir and the officers who are known supporters of the National Conference have been found involvement in the rice embezzlement. With the result, he said, relief is not reaching to the real sufferers. Also the NC politicians are inflating the damage of their workers to get them more benefits and the actual victims have been left high and dry by an insensible government, he said. He said there are reports that ministers representing constituencies where there was no flood whisked away hundreds of truck-loads of rice and are distributing it through their sons, wards and close associates. They are presenting the government relief as personal favor or party contribution, he added.
He said the Apex Court-appointed panel has categorically stated that on ground even the assessment of the damage of properties has not been completed across the state leave aside providing the people any relief. He said the government has even failed to distribute free ration properly in most of the areas of the state and only those who have not suffered due to floods are being benefited. “The government is distributing relief on the political considerations,” Naeem added.
The PDP Chief Spokesperson said the Omar Abdullah government has not been yet able to clear the civil secretariat, the epicenter of governance in the state, of the muck and slush leave aside making other offices and areas operational. “As more than one month has passed since the deluge struck Kashmir, the civil secretariat and other important offices in Srinagar are yet to be cleaned and made operational this shows how serious this government is with the affairs of the state,” he added. In the civil secretariat neither electricity nor any communication systems or any other facility has been restored till this date.
He said even senior minister in the state government, Taj Mohuidin has also said Standard Operations Procedure (SOP)  was not followed, no beats were formed and no vigilance was maintained on the bunds which otherwise used to be a norm in the past during floods.
Muhammad Abbas Wani, party’s candidate for Gulmarg constituency, was present on the occasion.