Mehbooba elected PDP legislature party leader

Mehbooba Mufti was today unanimously elected as PDP legislature party leader, with a senior leader saying that she is the PDP nominee for the Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister's post.
The 56-year-old PDP President was elected the leader of the legislature party at a meeting of PDP MLAs, MLCs and MPs at her residence in high-security Gupkar here this evening.
Mehbooba is PDP's nominee for the Chief Minister's post, said senior party leader Muzaffar Baig after the meeting.
Mehbooba thanked the party legislators for showing faith in her leadership and electing her as the legislature party leader.
She also thanked PDP leaders and workers for their support to her during the nearly three-month-long stalemate over government formation in the state.

"The major confidence building initiatives taken during

that (Vajpayee's) period had not only helped positively transform the situation in Jammu and Kashmir, but in the whole sub-continent," Mehbooba said.
The peace and reconciliation process in and around Jammu and Kashmir has to be revived with fresh resolve to ensure peace and stability in the state and the region, she said.
"The Government strongly believes that nothing is valid and should be happening for Jammu and Kashmir except with the active involvement of its people.
"However, the people from all shades of the political opinion shall have to evolve a consensus on a pragmatic and workable solution of the problems confronting the State in the interest of peace and stability," the Chief Minister said.

She said the time has come to strike a new benchmark in light of the global and regional realities for the resolution of the state's problems.
While the uncertainties and recurrent turmoil has adversely affected almost all the spheres of life in Kashmir, the youth become its specific target as the violence has consumed nearly an entire young generation, she said.
"The society cannot afford to lose more youth now, and measures have to be taken to safeguard their lives and future. The need, therefore, is not only to safeguard the precious lives of the youth but to create increasing opportunities for them to develop their personality and their functional capability and make them economically productive and socially useful," she said.

She said such opportunities have to be created on a large scale to cover a wide spectrum of areas of the human endeavor.
The Chief Minister said the government is alive to the miserable condition of the distressed families who have lost their children to the senseless violence.
"We will try to work out a mechanism to ensure a secure and dignified living for the kith and kin of the victims of violence so that their families do not have to run from pillar to post to live a normal life," she said.
"It is the responsibility of the government to reach out to such families, and we will not be found wanting in discharging our responsibility," Mehbooba said.

Earlier, the Chief Minister handed over appointment orders to 106 people from 10 districts of Kashmir division, including 15 from Anantnag, 10 from Budgam, 14 from Baramulla, seven from Bandipora, eight from Ganderbal, 14 from Kupwara, four from Kulgam, 10 from Pulwama, 20 from Srinagar, and four from Shopian.
She said the appointment cases were pending due to various reasons over a long time.
"However, the government is committed to attend to all these cases on priority and has laid special emphasis on their timely finalization," she said, adding some cases were also cleared through one-time relaxation of rules to absorb children of those who had died in harness.

She asked the officers concerned to attend to all pending cases on account of compassionate appointment on priority, so that the beneficiaries could get the benefit without further delay.