Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Aug 5: Chief Secretary, Dr Arun Kumar Mehta today e-inaugurated online room booking portal of Hospitality and Protocol (H&P) Department. He also e-inaugurated an additional accommodation block at Circuit House Jammu. Additional Chief Secretary, Finance, Vivek Bhardwaj was also present on the occasion.
The online portal provides for reservation system of circuit houses of H&P department within and outside Jammu and Kashmir. With the e- inauguration of online room reservation system, Government employees and other people can apply online for booking of the circuit houses from the click of their mobile phones within and outside J&K.
The portal allows for online submission of booking request by officers/officials and citizens. With the submission of booking request, an OTP is generated on the mobile phone of the customer and the booking is confirmed once the OTP is entered. The booking details are sent to the mobile phone of the customer.
Chief Secretary appreciated the efforts of Hospitality and Protocol Department and said that this is another feather in the journey of Digital Jammu and Kashmir. He expressed hope that the new system will bring further transparency and fairness in the allotment system.
He also asked the concerned officers to maintain online data of the circuit houses and keep assessing the requirements of the circuit houses on regular basis. He also called for maintenance and upkeep of circuit houses and other assets. He also stressed on checking the utilities of these assets on daily bases by the concerned caretaker.
Commissioner Secretary Hospitality and Protocol, Talat Parvez informed the Chief Secretary about the online portal and said that it has been completely integrated with RAS. He said the portal is very user friendly and the room reservation confirmation status is instantly intimated to the applicant through SMS or Sandes App.
Giving details about the additional block at circuit house, he informed that it consists of 2 suites and 12 very well furnished rooms. The work on the project was started by the executing agency PWD(R&B) Jammu in June 2019 and was completed on June 2022. He informed that the total cost of the project was Rs 660 lakhs, however total expenditure incurred on completion of the block is Rs 510.83 lakhs.