Corruption: Any Improvement Under Guv’s Rule?
One reason why state institutions have lost ground is because of corruption. The issue dominated a press conference which Governor Satya Pal Malik, his advisors, and his chief secretary, addressed recently.
There is an odd divergence in opinions regarding corruption. Some Kashmiris believe that there has been targeted action against corruption under Governor’s Rule, but many others insist that corruption in government offices is in fact at a high — even more than when politicians ruled the state.
People are by-and-large happy with the ‘back to the village’ programme under which junior officials stayed overnight in villages and noted people’s grievances. However, people at the grassroots level say that there is no visible impact of responsive governance — at least not yet.
School education remains a major challenge. Often, the quality of the curriculum and that of the teaching staff is poor. Teachers are often not motivated to…