Diplomat Correspondent
Rajouri,(DD): Three Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) from Rajouri district jointly expressed grave concerns over the worsening situation in Badhaal village, where a mysterious illness has claimed 17 lives.
Addressing a press conference, they criticised the dual power structure in Jammu and Kashmir, calling it “disastrous” and a major hindrance to the crisis response mechanism.
The press conference was addressed by MLA Thanamandi Muzaffar Iqbal Khan, MLA Budhal Javed Iqbal Choudhary, and MLA Rajouri Iftikhar Ahmed, who called for urgent action to address the escalating health crisis and systemic administrative inefficiencies.
The MLAs warned that the number of cases and fatalities from the unidentified illness in Badhaal village could rise further. While they appreciated the efforts of the district administration, police, and health department, they claimed that the response mechanism was being hampered by delays at the Union Territory (UT) level.
“Despite the commendable work by local authorities, the dual power structure in Jammu and Kashmir is causing confusion and delays. Senior officers in the UT administration are shirking responsibility, leading to chaos in managing this critical situation,” they remarked.
The legislators also criticised the region’s crumbling healthcare infrastructure, pointing out that 62% of posts at Government Medical College (GMC) Rajouri remain vacant, leaving the district’s population of 1.5 million severely underserved.
“Basic facilities such as MRI machines are not available at GMC Rajouri. Despite raising these issues repeatedly with the higher bureaucracy, no action has been taken. The lack of accountability at the top level has left the healthcare system in shambles,” they said.
The MLAs demanded immediate deployment of adequate medical and referral facilities in Badhaal to manage the health crisis.
Urgent steps to fill vacancies and strengthen healthcare infrastructure across the district.
The legislators also issued a strong warning: “If the government fails to address these pressing issues, we may have no choice but to resign en masse as a mark of protest.”
The incident in Badhaal and the inefficiencies in the administrative structure have highlighted the urgent need for reforms in Jammu and Kashmir’s governance model. The MLAs called on the government to act decisively to ensure accountability and safeguard public health in the district(DD)