First anniversary of creation of UTs of J&K, Ladakh

The first anniversary of the creation of UTs – Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh is being celebrated on August 05. This completes one year from the date of such bifurcation by the Union Government in which J&K and Ladakh have been made as separate territories.

Background

In 2019, the Union Government decided to end the special status granted to Jammu and Kashmir State under Article 370 and Article 35A of the Indian Constitution. In this regard, it was divided into two UTs – J & K and Ladakh. Previously, the development budgets were stuck in the state but in the last one year, it has been observed that the development projects are being carried out in both the areas with efficiency and effectiveness.

Impact of the Bifurcation

In Jammu and Kashmir, now all the 37 central laws in the concurrent list are applicable for the residents of the Union Territories. These laws came into effect from 31^st October last year to ensure administrative effectiveness in the UTs.

Initiatives to Boost Governance in the newly-created UTs

National Generic Document Registration System has been launched in order to ensure good governance in the state and also the diversity and variation have been addressed here to mark a transition from the manual system of carrying out the process of Registration to a computerized form of registration.

The employees of the government have also been extended the benefit of all the central government schemes, in both the UTs.

An Anti-Corruption Board has been set up in order to tackle the corrupt practices in the UTs. The objective is to eradicate all kinds of malpractices from the administration and public service delivery.

Block Development Fund has been created in order to ensure better development projects being carried out by the elected representatives.

Overall, the new structure is proving to be way more effective as compared to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir.

Month: Current Affairs - August, 2020