News Kashmir Excusive
Quality Healthcare facility is need of every human. Health care is one aspect that is direly craving for attention in Jammu and Kashmir State. With the sanctioning of All India Institute Of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) by the Government of India in Kashmir one had hoped that worries of masses with reference to healthcare in the state would be somewhat eased but as it has turned developments even in this regard have taken an ugly shape. Dirty politics and politics loaded with electoral and communal gains is being displayed .State unit of BJP and other right wing Hindutva Parties with other Jammu based parties have generated lot of needless hue and cry over the issue of their demand of the setting of AIIMS in Jammu region.
Valleyites have stated that on account of turmoil Jammu region has over the past few decades got lion’s share out of the developmental packages.
Syed Tajamul Imran, a writer states – “Even if Jammu desires or needs an AIMS; it is very much needed by the people of mountainous Pirpanjal and Chenab divisions of Jammu region, but demanding such mega facility for Jammu City or adjacent areas seems only a display of vested and selfish politics. When the need in our part of the world is to brainstorm collectively for betterment of basic facilities like quality healthcare, unfortunately fanatic tendencies seem to occupy the center stage.”
Sane voices are also state that a place wherein even construction of mega super facility hospital generates controversy, agitation and communal polarization speaks volumes about the maturity of politicians of that part and AIMS controversy bears testimony to the fact that Jammu and Kashmir politicians are more guided by selfish interests rather than collective humane dynamism .
On the otherhand the commoners in Kashmir are also questioning the move of demanding AIIMS in Jammu. Manzoor Ahmad, a student states – “If the agitators demanding would have been so sincere they should have been asking for AIIMS in health facility starved Chenab or Pirpanjal region but their intentions are to look for setting AIIMS in already health facility rich Jammu. Even the protest and agitation carried out for setting AIIMS in Jammu was by no means what we call civillised as it involved lot of coercive tactics. Demand for AIIMS in Jammu city or areas near it seems also visionless as if we look on the issue from geographical paradigms Jammu is just 650 kms far from the AIIMS Dehli but the other parts of the state are more the 1000 Kms far from the Dehli AIMS.”
Why the demand looks all the more political and selfish in nature is answered by the fact that If we focus on results of last elections the BJP got 25 seats from Jammu and PDP from Kashmir got 28 seats but the political analysts believe that it is actually the win of Jammu that propelled BJP and others to seek AIIMS for Jammu also as the Government was formed for the benefits and choice of Jammu more than that of Kashmir.
After much ado about nothing, On the assurance of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare Government of India in which the state government has been advised to identify pieces of land measuring approximately 200 acres of each in both Jammu and Srinagar keeping in view to expediting the process of establishment of AIIMS in the state of Jammu and Kashmir, the members of AIIMS Coordination Committee (ACC) have temporarily suspended their Jammu bandh call .
Amid all this the optimism of setting up maiden institutes of prestigious AIIMS has been tremendously overshadowed by the selfish, communal and regional politics played over this critical issue.
