Security personnel stop people during curfew like restrictions in Srinagar. (TOI file photo: Bilal Bahadur)

SRINAGAR: The Centre considers President’s rule in Jammu & Kashmir as ‘golden opportunity’ to win the hearts of people. With BJP chief Amit Shah at the helm of the crucial home ministry, the government is working on a two-pronged strategy — a strong push to development projects for generating employment opportunities and “expose” local politicians involved in scams and serving their vested interest.

Local officials see a sense of fatigue and a yearning for change across the state. “People want change and better governance, which has been our focus in the past one year,” a senior government official said. One such initiative, ‘Back to Village’ campaign, just ended under which gazetted officers spent two days and a night in all 4,483 panchayats of the state.

“Zakir Musa’s father was one of the participants in the ‘back to village’ event at Dadsara in Tral area, the native village of slain terrorist Burhan Wani. It was unimaginable a few months back,” an official, who was on duty at Dadsara village, told TOI. Killed recently, Musa had succeeded Wani after the latter’s killing in an encounter.

Although huge security cover was provided to officials visiting the villages, including in south Kashmir which is still in the grips of terrorism, success of the ‘back to village’ event is seen as a major impetus to peace initiatives and efforts to weed out extremists from the state.

The state government is working hard to generate employment as unemployment is a major factor leading to distress among the youth. The state has planned an investment summit in October. “The state will address the apprehensions of potential investors and we expect many of them to contribute in the state’s development,” an official said. State officials said one of the biggest achievements of the state was the huge response to elections to urban local bodies and panchayats, which witnessed turnout of over 74%, despite boycott call by regional parties, Hurriyat and death treats issues by the terrorist organisations.

Although efforts are on to ensure all-round development, senior officials admitted that there were challenges galore. “Governance has eroded over decades but people are totally unaware about it,” an official said, adding that after visiting five to six districts, his experience was an eye-opener.

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