While the government claims credit for redressal of grievances through grievance redressal camps of Lt Governor’s advisors, the doors of secretariat are shut for the locals populations of both Kashmir valley and as well as Jammu division at the secretariats both in Srinagar and Jammu only to further the causes of alienation and public disconnection across Jammu & Kashmir. Since the aggrieved people after bringing their grievances to the notices of Lt Governor’s advisors at the grievance redressal camps in Srinagar and Jammu are desperate to known about the progress of their grievance cases pending disposal at the directorates or in the administrative departments at the civil secretariats in Srinagar and Jammu, they are forced to see concerned officials of the concerned departments either at the directorates or in the administrative departments at civil secretariats in Srinagar and Jammu. Ironically the Government put on hold the decades old routine practice of visiting hours from 2.00-5.00 P.M for ordinary citizens at the secretariats both in Srinagar and Jammu immediately after the fall of the erstwhile PDP-BJP Government of erstwhile J&K state in July 2018 and consequently the aggrieved people supposed to get first hand information about the progress of their grievance cases in the backdrop of their meetings with the Lt Governor’s advisors at grievance redressal camps in Srinagar and Jammu are virtually being denied the right to access to the concerned officials of the concerned departments for the purposes of first hand information about the progress of their grievance cases at the civil secretariats in Srinagar and Jammu.
After replacing the Chief Secretary Government may also change administrative secretaries and down below the line Divisional Commissioners, Deputy Commissioners and Directors but ultimately changing faces won’t change newly adopted practices and precedence pursued after the bifurcation of erstwhile state into two union territories and ultimately the government will have to reopen the closed doors of the civil secretariats in Srinagar and Jammu, directorates in Kashmir and Jammu and offices of the Deputy Commissioners in the districts for giving people the access to corridors of power at the secretariat, divisional and district levels as the revival of this process could be the first step towards the restoration of the normal process of responsive administration in Jammu & Kashmir.
So when people are being denied the right to access to the concerned officials of the concerned departments for first hand information about the progress of their grievances cases at civil secretariats in Srinagar and Jammu how come the people would believe in the government’s claims about the redressal of their grievances. True it is that Lt Governor’s Advisors meet people to hear the grievances at the grievance redressal camps the schedule of which is being put in public domain from time to time through news channels and newspapers both in Srinagar and Jammu but ultimately people are being denied the right to access to the concerned officials of the concerned departments for first hand information about the progress of their grievance cases both at the civil secretariats in Srinagar and Jammu and as well as Directorates and officers of Deputy Commissioners in Kashmir and Jammu. While the authority to issue entry permissions at the civil secretariat to people of different classes including political functionaries of the political parties were taken away from the S P Security Civil Secretariat three years back the officers allowed to issue entry permissions to people are obliging only the people of influential classes and consequently only the ordinary citizens are denied the entry permissions at the civil secretariats both in Srinagar and Jammu. After replacing the Chief Secretary Government may also change administrative secretaries and down below the line Divisional Commissioners, Deputy Commissioners and Directors but ultimately changing faces won’t change newly adopted practices and precedence pursued after the bifurcation of erstwhile state into two union territories and ultimately the government will have to reopen the closed doors of the civil secretariats in Srinagar and Jammu, directorates in Kashmir and Jammu and offices of the Deputy Commissioners in the districts for giving people the access to corridors of power at the secretariat, divisional and district levels as the revival of this process could be the first step towards the restoration of the normal process of responsive administration in Jammu & Kashmir.
