Gaffar Soffi: Former J&K Health Minister Now Contesting in Anantnag West Constituency
By Sameer Ahmad
Anantnag ,August30: Soffi Abdul Gaffar, popularly known as Gaffar Soffi, hails from Sofigund Wanpoo in South Kashmir’s Anantnag District. He is one of the 10 candidates contesting the assembly election for the Anantnag West constituency on a PDP ticket.
Born in 1953, Soffi’s father, Mohammad Akbar Soffi, was a businessman. Gaffar Soffi graduated in Economics from Kashmir University in 1970.
Soffi entered politics in 1971, initially joining the Indian National Congress. In 1996, the Congress gave him a mandate to contest the Assembly election for the Homeshalibug constituency in Kulgam District, but he lost.
In 1999, Soffi joined the PDP and became one of its founding members. In 2002, the PDP selected him to contest the Assembly election for the Homeshalibug constituency in Kulgam District, which he won by a large margin.
Following his victory in the 2002 Assembly election, Soffi was appointed Health and Medical Education Minister. During his tenure, he established several Sub District Hospitals and Primary Health Centers (PHCs) across various districts and rural areas of Jammu and Kashmir. One of these was the Maternity and Child Care Hospital in Anantnag (MCCH), which serves patients from all four districts of South Kashmir as well as Ramban and the Chenab Valley.
In 2008, Soffi again contested the Assembly election in the Homeshalibug Constituency and won by a substantial margin. However, the PDP lost its bid to form the government and remained in opposition, as the National Conference and Congress emerged as the largest parties in Jammu & Kashmir, forming a coalition government.
Speaking to the Press Trust of Kashmir (PTK), Soffi said, “I did a lot when I was Health Minister. I strengthened the health infrastructure in hospitals and set up PHCs in several remote areas in Jammu and Kashmir. Apart from this, I implemented some government schemes on the ground that had never been realized before. When I was Health Minister, it was our proposals that led to the establishment of GMCs in Jammu and Kashmir.”
Jammu and Kashmir is set to face its first Assembly elections in 10 years, following the last representative government.
