B’pora: Despite having a Mini Secretariat, Several important Government Offices in Bandipora are running from rented accommodation away from the mini-secretariat thus troubling the locals.
Several important government offices including the Departments of Geology and Mining, Pollution Control Board and Irrigation & Flood Control are not only paying huge amounts as rents to private buildings but their location away from the mini-secretariat is troubling the local population. “Almost all these departments have been operating from the hired accommodation since long and if calculated they have paid more rent than the value of the buildings hired,” said an official.
“The more troublesome fact of this phenomenon is that, almost all these offices are located in the interior lanes of the town in un-conspicuous locations, which cannot be located in normal course. So, how can one expect best service from them,” said Shabir Ahmad Malik, a local.
Locals said the mismanagement by the district authorities has led to this phenomenon as several non essential offices have been provided space in the mini-secretariat. They said the district administration recently ordered the Health department to shift their offices from mini secretariat to old District Hospital Complex but till date the order has not been executed. “ ISM, CMO and Deputy CMO offices have occupied half of the Block-C rooms despite having an idle old DH building a few metres away from Mini-secretariat,” said a local while rejecting the excuse of the district administration about space constraints in the mini secretariat.
“Had officers been serious, they could have managed all offices inside mini-secretariat but their sluggish approach is troubling people as they have to travel miles to search for these offices,” locals said while alleging that the officers of these offices are deliberately not taking up the matter with DC Bandipora as they are running offices without any accountability away from the vigil of district officers. “Nobody knows where these offices are and hence DC or other higher officers will never come to check their attendance, so they prefer not to take up the issue as they mostly remain absent from duties,” they added.
Meanwhile, the locals who visited the offices said that they are being made to run from pillar to post as they don’t know where the offices are functioning. “There is no proper space for the office and we don’t even know where the office is currently functioning”. The locals appealed Deputy Commissioner Bandipora Owais Ahmad to personally look into the matter.
