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Srinagar: 'Janata Darbar' is fast becoming a hit among the people of the Kashmir, especially youth, giving a shot in the arm to Omar Abdullah government in the state, which has been of the firm belief that last year''s protests were not aimed against it.
As the 41-year-old Omar prepares for his second Janata Darbar this week, his office is already flooded with requests for meeting the Chief Minister as this public forum and this has rekindled the hope among the public at large that their pleas will be addressed cutting through the red-tape.
University students, unemployed youth who want to start their own ventures and executives from a leading private bank are eager to meet Omar at the ''Open House'', which he has started to get feedback from various areas of the state. During the five months of unrest last summer, thousands of people, mostly youths, poured on the streets across the Valley, that resulted in violence in which more than 100 people were killed.
Mainstream opposition parties like PDP and BJP claimed that the violence was a result of the failure of the Omar-led government. Omar told PTI that the youth of Kashmir this year has taken a "positive approach" for getting the issues resolved.
"The massive participation of the youth, both as candidates and voters, in the ongoing panchayat elections shows that they want to contribute in a positive way to the development process," he said.
Omar recalled that when he took over as the Chief Minister, the youth of the state, especially those in the Valley, had expected him to solve their problems.
"We are working in this direction but no Chief Minister has a magic wand that will make all the problems disappear overnight.
"I have been repeatedly saying that I should be judged at the end of my term as most of the development works we have taken up will start bearing fruit in four to five years," he said.
The Chief Minister said his focus is on improving public delivery service by receiving first-hand appraisal of the issues people are confronted with on various counts.
"Open House provides ample room to people to ventilate their grievances and I get an opportunity to know where the delivery requires improvement so that actions are taken accordingly," he added.
The Chief Minister said by the establishment of Panchayati Raj system in the state, smaller issues which are being brought to his notice for redress could be dealt effectively at the panchayat level.
Omar, however, said that he and his office shall be accessible to individuals and civil societies as a whole to apprise him of the matters and problems they deem fit to be brought to his notice.
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