Srinagar, Sep 14: Jammu and Kashmir National Conference President and Member Parliament Dr Farooq Abdullah on Thursday said the party will steadfastly work for people living on the margins, facing poverty, and other deprivations.
He made these comments while addressing a meeting of the Channapora constituency at Nawa-e-Subha, Srinagar. The meeting was convened by in-charge Chanapora Mushtaq Guroo and was presided over by district president Srinagar Peer Afaq Ahmad, a party statement issued here said.
In his address to the workers, Dr Farooq said the issues confronting Srinagar’s urban poor have compounded in the absence of an elected government. “Unfortunately, the city’s poor has not been the focus of the successive regimes since 2016. Issues pertaining to poverty alleviation, employment generation, and development have taken a back seat. Only such steps were taken that directly hit the poor and marginal traders living in Srinagar city. People associated with the Kashmir crafts at different levels from manufacturing to exports are struggling for survival. The new ration policy ever since it has been in vogue has disturbed the nutritional demands of the people, particularly the poorer sections. The scenario in terms of basic utility services is no better, power outages, water shortage, and poor sanitary services define today’s Srinagar,” he said.
The programmes and policies carried by successive NC-led governments are etched in the memory of the masses and have left an indelible imprint on the psyche, he said.
The meeting was marked by threadbare discussions on organizational matters and underway party activities in the constituency. In their address, the party functionaries laid stress on tasking YNC and women’s wing cadre with crucial responsibilities in the reach-out campaign underlining the party’s unwavering commitment to the poor with emphasis on political, economic and developmental mission.
“Issues like unemployment, ration scarcity, plight of artisans, drug abuse development deficit and administrative inertia were also marked up in the meeting,” the statement said, adding that the meeting continued for hours and witnessed extensive discussions on challenges ahead of the party and the measures to tackle them.
