Locals rejoiced Art 370 removal, says chief secy

SRINAGAR: Chief secretary BVR Subrahmanyam said the people of Jammu and Kashmir must be patient to enjoy the benefits of the Centre’s move to nullify Article 370 as many positive initiatives were yet to be rolled out.

J&K was a “broken state” and there was “no system” in place due to years of misgovernance, corruption and “unbelievable levels of fraud” committed by the leaders of mainstream parties and separatist organisations, he said. Therefore, not a “single soul had cried” over the detention of political and separatist leaders in August last year, when the Centre announced its decision to revoke Jammu and Kashmir’s special status under Article 370 of the Constitution, he added.subrahmanyam, a 1987-batch IAS officer who was hand-picked by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to “clean up” the Jammu and Kashmir administration, said misgovernance and corruption had continued for so long that the system collapsed.

The chief secretary said he has been working sincerely to create a robust institutional infrastructure which is free of corruption.