Srinagar, June 23 (KNS): While questioning the rationale of Jammu and Kashmir administration’s order to allow several key Durbar Move departments to function from Jammu during the summer, Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee (JKPCC) Vice President and former MLC G N Monga today said under a systematic plan, the BJP government is completely disempowering people of the Valley.
In a statement issued to KNS, he said, this is for the first time in 148 years that the government has halted the traditional administrative tradition of Darbar Move.
“In April the government made Covid-19 pandemic as an excuse for not shifting Durbar Move offices to Srinagar from Jammu as per schedule. Later in June another order was issued allowing key departments to function from the Jammu Secretariat. The intentions of the BJP government are always divisive and they want to create a wedge between Jammu and Kashmir regions,” the Congress leader said and added that such bureaucratic orders are against the intentions of common people.
Monga said the tradition of bi-annual Darbar Move would give a sense of empowerment to people of both Jammu and Kashmir regions. “It had always been a political necessity to keep both regions politically relevant and satisfied. However, the BJP government is hell bent to ensure that people of Kashmir are fully disempowered,” he said.
The Congress leader said that the BJP government was systematically disempowering Kashmiris. “First Kashmir was overlooked and the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) bench was allotted to Jammu. Now most of the important Move departments are operating from Jammu when they should have been functioning from Srinagar as per norms. These decisions have already caused uproar in Kashmir Valley,” he added.
Monga said halting the one and half century old practice all of a sudden without properly assessing its pros and cons is wrong. “No doubt, Darbar move involves some expenditure, but the benefits in terms of social cohesion, emotional integration and political unity, the shifting of secretariat brings in, far outweighs the monetary considerations,” he said and urged the administration to rethink its decision and allow the Darbar Move offices to function as per the practice from Srinagar in summer and Jammu in winter. (KNS)