Srinagar, Aug 24: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Monday said there was no crisis in the government and maintained that any cabinet reshuffle would be carried out when he deemed it necessary, while defending the recent electricity tariff hike and calling for a thorough investigation into fresh threats to Kashmiri Pandit employees.
“There is no crisis in the government. Our work is going on,” Abdullah said when asked about a possible reshuffle in his government.
He said he had only ruled out a reshuffle before August 15 when asked about it earlier, and had not committed to carrying it out immediately afterwards.
“I only told you that it would not happen before August 15. When it will happen and under what circumstances, leave that to me,” he said.
On criticism from opposition parties over the increase in electricity tariffs, Abdullah said his government had never promised that power rates would not rise. He reiterated that the government’s commitment was to provide 200 units of free electricity to the poorest households.
“I repeatedly explained in the Assembly that under the free electricity scheme, we would use solar panels to deliver this benefit to people,” he said.
Abdullah argued that the tariff increase was separate from the free-power scheme and said the government had raised rates by only 6 per cent after four years.
“We are not celebrating the increase in electricity rates. It was a compulsion for us,” he said, adding that lower power-sector losses would reduce the need for such measures in the future.
On fresh threats reportedly targeting Kashmiri Pandit employees, Abdullah described the issue as a serious concern and urged the police and intelligence agencies to investigate their source.
“Threats should not be coming at all,” he said, adding that the law-and-order and security agencies “should not take these things lightly”.
He recalled that Pandit employees had been targeted under similar circumstances two to two-and-a-half years ago, saying the government had suffered “a great deal of loss” as a result.
“Keeping all our employees safe and protecting them is a very major responsibility of the police,” Abdullah said.
He also clarified that law and order was not his direct responsibility, saying the matter was handled by Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha.
“My advice to the law-and-order administration would be not to take this lightly. There should be a full investigation,” he said.
