{"id":95147,"date":"2026-06-04T00:03:58","date_gmt":"2026-06-03T18:33:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.khushalekashmir.com\/?p=95147"},"modified":"2026-06-04T00:03:58","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T18:33:58","slug":"governance-concerns-dominate-omar-led-nc-meeting-ministers-face-tough-questions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.khushalekashmir.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/04\/governance-concerns-dominate-omar-led-nc-meeting-ministers-face-tough-questions\/","title":{"rendered":"Governance concerns dominate Omar-led NC meeting; ministers face tough questions"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul>\n<li><strong>Legislators question functioning of departments, seek equitable development funds, criticism of ministers part of governance review process, says Javed Rana; NC prepares fresh push for statehood restoration<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>Srinagar, June 3: Concerns over the functioning of several government departments, including the Roads and Buildings (R&amp;B) Department, figured prominently during a meeting of National Conference legislators and independent MLAs supporting the government, chaired by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah at Dachigam on Wednesday, sources said.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The meeting, which lasted several hours, was largely focused on governance and development-related issues, with legislators highlighting concerns from their respective constituencies.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>According to sources, a number of MLAs raised questions over the distribution of development funds and execution of projects by the R&amp;B Department headed by Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Choudhary.<\/p>\n<p>Legislators from both Jammu and Kashmir reportedly sought a more balanced allocation of resources and pointed to what they described as disparities in the sanctioning of projects under various development schemes.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The issue generated extensive discussion, with several legislators voicing concerns over the functioning of the department, sources said.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Chief Minister Omar Abdullah assured participants that the issues raised during the meeting would be examined and addressed, they added.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Sources said some MLAs also flagged concerns regarding the functioning of other departments and called for faster implementation of developmental works.<\/p>\n<p>The proposal seeking a ban on the sale and consumption of liquor in Jammu and Kashmir also came up for discussion. Sources said it was decided that a committee would be constituted to examine the issue and submit recommendations.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The demand for restoration of statehood was also discussed, with legislators reiterating the need to continue pursuing the issue with the Centre.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Speaking to KNS after the meeting, Minister for Jal Shakti, Forest, Ecology and Environment Javed Rana said the party would intensify its campaign for restoration of statehood.<\/p>\n<p>Referring to Chief Minister Omar Abdullah\u2019s recent remarks about a \u201cpolitical cloudburst\u201d, Rana said the National Conference would launch a protest programme demanding restoration of statehood from the opening day of the upcoming monsoon session of Parliament.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Asked about criticism of ministers during the meeting, Rana described it as part of a normal governance review process.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes, ministers were questioned during the meeting, but that is a routine exercise in governance. The concerns raised will be addressed,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere can be gaps in governance, but our effort is to bridge those gaps and fulfil the expectations of the people,\u201d Rana added.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>On the possibility of a cabinet expansion, the minister said the matter rested with the party leadership.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDr Farooq Abdullah is the president of the party and he will take a call on it,\u201d Rana said.(KNS).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Legislators question functioning of departments, seek equitable development funds, criticism of ministers part of governance review process, says Javed Rana; NC prepares fresh push for statehood restoration Srinagar, June 3: Concerns over the functioning of several government departments, including the Roads and Buildings (R&amp;B) Department, figured prominently during a meeting of National Conference legislators and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":95148,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[45],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-95147","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-jk"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.khushalekashmir.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95147","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.khushalekashmir.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.khushalekashmir.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.khushalekashmir.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.khushalekashmir.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=95147"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.khushalekashmir.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95147\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":95149,"href":"https:\/\/www.khushalekashmir.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95147\/revisions\/95149"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.khushalekashmir.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/95148"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.khushalekashmir.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=95147"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.khushalekashmir.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=95147"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.khushalekashmir.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=95147"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}