Govt has no political eye on its Agri face
Most of the co-operative banks, agriculture bodies manned by DCs, GMs

AHMED ALI FAYYAZ

SRINAGAR, Jan 28: With most of the political appointees of the previous PDP-Congress government ruling the roost in key financial institutions, Omar Abdullah-led National Conference-Congress coalition government has failed to find its own political incumbents for a number of co-operative banks and agriculture related corporations.

Provincial level Jammu Central Cooperative Bank (JCCB) is the one-odd bank in the cooperative centre that has held elections and got its board of directors, including Chairman, elected through a democratic process since the day NC-led coalition government assumed office in January last year. Its Chairman is known for his affiliation to the Chief Minister’s party and he is holding the distinction of being one-odd political eye on the government’s entire agriculture and cooperative face.

JCCB’s half counterpart in Kashmir, State Cooperative Bank Ltd, as well as the state-level Land Development Bank have been directly taken over by respective Ministers. While as LDB happens to be a state level financial institution for development of orchards, State Co-operative Bank stands spread over Srinagar, Budgam, Ganderbal, Leh and Kargil districts. Now PDP’s MLA from Lolab, advocate Abdul Haq had functioned as its Chairman in the previous coalition regime.

Even as Minister incharge Co-operative, Dr Manohar Lal, has been declared as the State Cooperative Bank’s ex-officio Chairman, it is practically under total command and control of a General Manager, known for his dubious distinction of being the only under-Matric bank executive in Jammu & Kashmir. He has been adjusting his political affiliation according to the parties in power.

Top position of Chairman has also been lying vacant after resignation of the previous regime’s political appointees in Baramulla Central Co-operative Bank and Anantnag Central Co-operative Bank, JCCB’s half-counterparts in Valley, operating in North Kashmir and South Kashmir respectively. In absence of the fresh incumbents coming from the Omar Abdullah-led coalition government and the cooperative society elections being nowhere around the corner, both these banks are being run by General Managers, though Deputy Commissioners of Baramulla and Anantnag happen to be the ex-officio Chairpersons.

Formerly Governor’s advisor, H H Tayyabji, functioned as Chairman of J&K State Agro-Industries Development Corporation till January 5th 2009. It worked under the stewardship of its former Managing Director, Dr Ghulam Nabi Qasba, till he was removed to an insignificant posting in October 2009 and the Board of Directors was reconstituted. Minister for Agriculture, Ghulam Hassan Mir and senior KAS officer, Mohammad Aslam Laigaroo, who were both among the prominent faces of the PDP-Congress government, are now holding the top positions of Chairman and MD, respectively, in the corporation.

Yet another official, namely M S Qasba, who stands posted as Director of Horticulture, has been holding the charge of the MD of J&K Horticulture (Planning & Marketing) Corporation. Congress leader and Minister of Horticulture, Sham Lal Sharma, has been functioning as its Chairman.

Though it has not apparently ruffled any feathers in the state bureaucracy, senior IAS officer Iqbal Khanday’s dramatic return to the mainstream power corridors and his appointment as Principal Secretary Agriculture Production has not been taken well by either of the coalition partners, particularly NC. Asserting his authority, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had marginalized Khanday, and few others, on account of their “PDP tag” last year. In days of his treating the Government’s orders of sparing a Rural Development professor at IMPA (for drafting so-called Employment Policy) with contempt, Khanday was recalled and given a prize posting.

A many of the NC Ministers and legislators have been heard openly berating Khanday’s rehabilitation as, according to their apprehensions, it would completely neutralize their party’s control over the key Agriculture, Horticulture and Co-operative sector which has been all-important in the Valley.

This vital sector, which remained under one NC’s Minister’s control in Dr Farooq Abdullah’s government in 1996-2002, has today five Ministers in Ghulam Hassan Mir, Sham Lal Sharma, Aga Syed Ruhullah, Dr Manohar Lal and Aijaz Ahmed Khan. Green hand Ruhullah alone belongs to the Chief Minister’s party.

END