LG skips ceremonial parade at Civil Sectt Srinagar, 70 yr long convention lost

Srinagar: Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha led administration Tuesday skipped the age-old ceremonial parade at Civil Secretariat Srinagar citing Covid19 reasons, while officers termed it a deliberate attempt to isolate Kashmiris and stated that move will further alienate people.
As Kashmir-based Darbar move employees resumed their offices in Civil Secretariat after seven months here in Srinagar, several senior officers termed the move as an attempt to segregate Kashmiris.
A senior KAS officer at administration wishing anonymity told Kashmir Horizon that it was first time in decades administration had decided to create a regional divide between Kashmir and Jammu employees and had affected largely functioning of government offices in Valley.
“It is unfortunate, decades-old ceremonial parade practice was skipped by LG Manoj Sinha administration citing Covid19 reasons. It seems a deliberate attempt to divide employees on the basis of their regional and regional identity,” he said. The officer said the move will create a regional atmosphere in Kashmir and will upset the people. Kashmir-based employees are only focused on their employment and are given their 100 percent duty but most of the Jammu-based employees are also involved in trade activities.
“If they will move to Kashmir, they have to close their trades and most of the working days they skip their duties. Due to this, they did not want to come valley and let the people suffer,” he said.
The officer said secondly the irony is that administration has shifted only electronic files this year but they cannot replace the importance of paper files, as in some cases there is a need to overlook historical background or other relevance’s.
“Even hard copies of any document are easily readable and easily accessible but soft or e-format are more difficult for the employees, the issue has been neglected by the LG administration which is very unfortunate,” he said.
Another KAS officer said the Srinagar Secretariat has been turned into a sub-office. As Covid19 restrictions were eased last year advisories of LG, Principal Secretary and administrative secretaries most of the time were often spend their time in Pahalgam, Sonamarg , Gulmarg and other tourism places along with their families rather than attending their respective offices.
“Kashmir has remained a picnic spot for all the officers, while people continue to face the problems at the ground and nobody bothers to address that issue,” the officer said.
The issue needs to resolve on immediate basis otherwise it will create further alienation among the people of the valley, the officer said.