New Delhi: Days after being sworn-in as the governor of Jammu and Kashmir, Satya Pal Malik on Tuesday said that building trust in the militancy-hit state is his top concern.
“My first priority is to build trust with the people of Jammu and Kashmir and have dialogue with them,” Malik told News18.com after meeting President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the national capital.
Malik, who took charge of J&K after replacing seasoned bureaucrat NN Vohra, also wants more public hearings to encourage a clear channel of communication with locals. “The Governor House will be made more accessible (to the public). I have also issued instructions that district collectors and two advisors should earmark at least one day in a week for public hearings,” he said.
The J&K administration is also planning to give MLAs access to the constituency development fund, sources close to Malik said. It is also preparing a strategy to wean the Kashmiri youngsters off violence by engaging them in music and sports related activities and making the system more transparent and corruption-free, the sources said.
Malik assumes the chair of J&K governor at a very interesting time when controversy over Article 35A is at its peak, panchayat elections are due, terrorism and encounters in the state are on the rise, and the state assembly, after BJP pulled out of its coalition with PDP, is in suspended animation.
Born on 24 July 1946, Malik has had a long exposure to politics, cutting his teeth in Uttar Pradesh politics from 1947 to 1977, during which he was a member of UP assembly.
He also emerged on the national stage, after becoming an MP, and served as the Union Minister of State, Parliamentary Affairs and Tourism. Malik has also been member of several Parliamentary Committees.
He was also associated in the past with Congress, Samajwadi Party, Lok Dal and the Bharatiya Kranti Dal.
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