K N Pandita
Nearly a 160 year old practice called Durbar Move in J&K has come to an end. The practice was started by the Dogra rulers and the reason was that the vast Dogra Kingdom comprised mostly the mountainous regions of the Himalayas to the north; the Pir Panchal ranges that divide Jammu region from Kashmir and the Shivalik Mountains that gird the eastern part of Jammu. Owing to the difficult accessibility to the far off mountainous stretches, it had become necessary to undertake six monthly shifting of the secretariat.
The practice continued after the induction of popular rule in the State in the closing months of 1947. Though a number of other practices observed by the Dogra rulers were discarded by the populist regimes for reasons best known to them, the practice of Durbar Move remained in place.
With the passage of time, the practice developed into a culture with impact on social dynamics of society. Weather conditions played a role in this process. Majority of Secretariat employees of different cadres hailed from the valley. The severe winter conditions of the Valley and lack of living facilities became the catalyst to frequent mobility of the Valley population. As the employees, the highly privileged class, had the benefit of Government accommodation on nominal rent, it became easy for the valley-based cadres to bring their families, close relative and friends to Jammu during the winter months.
In comparison, very few families of Jammu employees offered to move to the valley during summer. The number of Jammu employees in the secretariat is insignificant and if some family members even decided to move, it made no impact whatsoever. Many valley-based employees have their houses in Jammu as they feel Jammu provides better educational facilities to their wards.
It is true that Jammu business class had the advantage of good marketing with the Kashmiri visitors. Among the beneficiaries are grocers, butchers, healthcare providers, vegetable vendors, bakers, jewelers and transporters. But inter-regional trade will not suffer a loss in real by the termination of Durbar Move because the quantum of trade will not be affected adversely.
It is not total stoppage of Durbar Move when we look at the situation closely. There are many departments that remain stationed permanently either in Jammu or Srinagar and these are staffed mostly by local employees. Previously, these employees were allotted government accommodation in Srinagar/ Jammu also which they retained even when they shifted either to the summer or winter capital. According to the recent order of the government of the Union Territory, such secretariat employees as posted permanently in one of the two regions have been asked to vacate the Government accommodation allotted to them in the other region. In all probability, more distribution of departments will take place in the course of time. In that case things will ultimately boil down to the UT having two secretariats or in simpler words another bifurcation of J&K.
The point is that ever since digital technology made deep inroads into the society, the practice of carrying ton-loads of files and papers every six months from one capital to another capital seems to have no sense. The entire Secretariat paperwork has been digitalized and there is now no need to move the truck loads from one place to another. This practice will improve further as we see the global use of computer. Movement of files has become irrelevant.
Secondly, the time has come when video conferencing is replacing physical conferencing system. It is not just because of the pandemic that video conferencing has been adopted. Even if there were no pandemic, still video conferencing would have been adopted. It saves huge expenditures, time and energy. It is an efficient and quick method of disposing off official matters or taking serious decisions. Huge amount spent on TA/DA item when physical meetings are held will be saved and diverted to more urgent expenditure heads.
The resentment of Jammu business class is not really tenable. The trading system between Jammu and Srinagar is a system with long history and practice. Cancellation of Durbar Move does not impact that system and its efficacy. Jammu Kanak Mandi has been a significant business centre with Valley connectivity meaning the big towns in the Valley like Srinagar, Anantnag, Sopor, Baramulla, Kupwara, Bandipor etc. The quantum of trade conducted between Jammu and these towns in the valley will receive a boost with the termination of Durbar move. Hence, we see that the resentment of the Jammu traders is not really valid.
It is expected that direct railway link between Kashmir and the rest of the country will be established by the year 2022 when the Jammu – Baramulla rail link is declared. Railway is bound to be the game changer in Kashmir as it will usher in a new phase in the history of Kashmir. Avenues for enhanced trade and industry projects will open up and people will love the freedom of movement at ease.
The railways, we understand, have mega projects in sight like Jammu – Poonch link, Baramulla – Lolab link and Verinag -Pahalgam link. A time will come when there will be a network of rail service in Kashmir and people can move quickly and easily from one to another destination. That will change the economy and life style of people because many avenues of employment will be thrown open to the talented youth.
Durbar Move appears irrelevant in an age of science and technology. The world is moving fast and people have no time to waste. Revolution brought about by Information technology has immensely impacted life. In this age where speed matters, the old style of functionaries sitting on the files is gone. Time for action is shrinking and each functionary knows maximum hours within which he is required to dispose off a case.
Digitalization has put invisible curbs on corruption. Once upon a time, the Secretariat was notorious for corruption and bribery. The baboos would sit on the file and make the applicants cool heels for weeks and months. Additionally, the RTI has given full scope to an applicant to find out the current status of his case. It is his constitutional right.
True, during the rule of the British, central office would move from Delhi to Shimla and the British rulers had laid railway line right up to Shimla for their convenience. No Indian State had twin-capitals before or after independence. Only J&K had this privilege. Therefore, the government has taken the right decision of reducing the unnecessary expenditure of nearly eight crores rupees on each Durbar Move or 16 crores annually on Durbar Move.
Lastly, in terms of time saving, cancellation of Durbar Move will prove immensely beneficial. Normally, ten days would be allotted to each Durbar Move from winding up at one capital and reopening at the other capital. It means that at least 20 days were consumed by the two Durbar Moves in the course of one year. It is a big waste and had to be done away with.
We hope more genuine reforms will be brought about by the Lt. Governor in the administrative structure of the UT of J&K. Now that the region is gradually opening to industrialization and various developmental project, it is of much importance that the bureaucracy and the subordinate but submissive cadres of civil society also play an active role in promoting the development of the state.
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