Governor Satya Pal Malik, on Wednesday, said that he does not have any political agenda and was working strictly within the ambit of the Constitution and not trying to encroach upon the political space of Jammu and Kashmir.

Malik, who was interacting with the media persons here, was replying to a question on the issue of former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti having accused him of encroaching upon the political space in the state.

Malik said that he was in J&K not to make the political parties happy but to accelerate development of the state and remove genuine grievances of the common people.

He stressed that he has not come here to pursue any political agenda but his endeavour was to reach the common people and ensure balanced development of the state’s three regions- Jammu, Kashmir, and Ladakh.

The Governor said that he tried to streamline the issuance of the bonafide resident certificates to permanent residents of J&K but had to shelve the process because of the hue and cry raised by certain political parties. Complaints of inordinate delay in issuance of these certificates had been received from the affected people.

Malik said that corruption in J&K was more than any other state and tackling the menace was a challenge before him. Development of the state has been hurdled due to corrupt practices and it was an opportune time for the political leadership and bureaucracy to introspect on the issue as influential people have become rich whereas the common people were suffering because of the malice.

He said that among the major initiatives of his administration towards good governance was the establishment of the first ever Anti-Corruption Bureau, making amendments to make the J&K Vigilance Commission Act 2011 more vibrant and effective and amendment of the Prevention of Corruption Act to provide it more teeth.

Malik was hopeful that a new leadership would be churned out of the Panchayat and municipal elections that have successfully been completed in the state after a gap of several years. These elections were held to empower the people and not to tinker with the Article 35A as was alleged by some political parties.

He regretted that J&K was not being projected in the right perspective by the national media and at times the reports were “distorted” without bringing out the truth.

Bottlenecks have been removed and 1296 development projects languishing for as long as 20 years have been approved for completion with an investment of Rs 2700 crore. Projects worth about Rs 6000 crores will be sanctioned in the next two months.

Malik said that in an effort to introduce transparency, the interview system for recruitment process has been abolished and 1000 doctors have been recruited through the fast-track system within 42 days.

He said that work on building bunkers for residents of areas near the Line of Control (LoC) in the Rajouri and Poonch districts will be taken in hand soon.