Baramulla, Sep 16: Leader of Opposition (LOP) in the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly and senior BJP leader Sunil Sharma on Wednesday assured people that their issues would be raised in the upcoming Assembly session.
Sharma was interacting with residents and representatives of different sections of society from Baramulla, Kupwara, and Bandipora at Dak Bungalow, Baramulla, as part of the BJP legislative group’s pre-session public outreach programme.
J&K BJP General Secretary Anwar Khan, All Cells Co-Incharge and Prabhari Baramulla Bilal Parray, along with other senior party leaders, accompanied the LOP.
Sharma said the BJP legislative group had decided to visit district headquarters across Jammu and Kashmir ahead of the Assembly session to directly listen to the concerns and grievances of the people.
“A large number of people have come from different parts of North Kashmir with their issues. Our legislative group has decided that before the Assembly session, we will visit every district headquarters, listen to the problems of the people and ensure that their genuine concerns are raised in the appropriate forum,” Sharma said.
He said the outreach programme in Baramulla provided an opportunity to hear from people belonging to different sections of society and understand the issues affecting their day-to-day lives.
“We have come here to listen to the problems of the people and raise them in the concerned quarters. Our responsibility as the opposition is to ensure that the voice of the common man reaches the government and the Assembly,” he said.
Sharma said several important issues were brought to his notice during the interaction, including roads, bridges, water supply, tourism, electricity charges, employment, outsourced workers, NHM employees, Anganwadi workers and municipal elections.
Expressing concern over unemployment and employment-related grievances, Sharma said the problems faced by unemployed youth and workers required serious attention and appropriate government intervention.
He also said issues related to local governance and civic infrastructure needed to be addressed effectively so that development reached people at the grassroots level.
“The people have brought very basic issues before us. Some have concerns regarding roads and bridges, some regarding water supply, while others have raised tourism and other civic issues. These are basic governance issues and they cannot be ignored,” Sharma said.
On the absence of municipal elections, Sharma said strengthening grassroots democratic institutions was important for effective local governance and development.
“The BJP is the principal opposition party and we will raise the concerns of the people in the Assembly. The issues brought before us in Baramulla will be taken up at the appropriate level,” Sharma said.
He said the pre-session outreach programme was aimed at strengthening direct engagement between elected representatives and the people and ensuring that public grievances were reflected in the legislative process.
He reiterated that the BJP would continue to raise the concerns of the people of J&K in the Assembly and oppose what it termed the “anti-people policies and misgovernance” of the NC government.
