*3 Ministers to stay in Kashmir for fortnight spells
Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, Oct 13: Bi-annual move of the Civil Secretariat, the seat of the Government, to Jammu (winter capital of the State) for six months from November 10 notwithstanding, the Government today ordered that officers of the level of Special Secretaries and Additional Secretaries of several Departments will keep staying in Srinagar, the Chief Secretary and other top bureaucrats will station themselves in Srinagar for two out of five working days and three Ministers would stay in the Valley for 15 days in rotation to monitor relief and rehabilitation measures post floods.
The Durbar Move order issued by the General Administration Department (GAD) today said that even top bureaucrats including the Chief Secretary would visit Srinagar every Thursday and stay there for two days even after shifting of the Civil Secretariat to Jammu to take stock of relief and rehabilitation operations. This means that top bureaucrats will be in Srinagar for two out of three working days of Civil Secretariat.
The Civil Secretariat will re-open in Jammu on November 10, the order said.
“At least three members of the Council of Ministers to be nominated by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah will also remain stationed at Srinagar for fortnight long spells to oversee relief and rehabilitation process,” the Government order said.
It said: “the officers of the level of Special Secretaries and Additional Secretaries of PHE, Irrigation and Flood Control, Public Works (R&B), Revenue, Relief and Rehabilitation, Health and Medical Education and Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution will continue to remain in Srinagar even after Durbar Move”.
It added that these officers will operate from New Secretariat building, which will be fully winterized by the Estates Department. The GAD will provide Secretarial assistance and Class-IV staff to these officers at Srinagar throughout the winter on the requisition of concerned departments.
Further, the order said, the Chief Secretary, Financial Commissioner Revenue, Principal Secretary PDD, Commissioner/Secretary PWD (R&B), Commissioner/ Secretary, Revenue, Relief and Rehabilitation, Commissioner/ Secretary, Health and Medical Education, Secretary GAD and Secretary CAPD will visit Kashmir every Thursday and spend at least two days in the Valley to take stock of relief and rehabilitation operations. The order means that these officers will be available in Jammu during Durbar Move only for three days or even less in a week.
The Government ordered that Durbar Move officers with five days working will close in Srinagar on October 31 while those with six days working will close on November 1. All the offices will re-open in Jammu on November 10. All the Departments will send advance parties on October 27 to receive the records at Jammu.
The Government has also constituted two Committees, headed by Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir Rohit Kansal for monitoring relief and rehabilitation operation and restoration of damaged infrastructure respectively.
The first Committee comprised Director Health Services Kashmir, Commissioner of Srinagar Municipal Corporation, Director CAPD Kashmir, Vice Chairman of Lakes and Waterways Development Authority, Director School Education Kashmir and any other senior officer the Divisional Commissioner wants to co-opt.
The second Committee comprised the Chief Engineers of PHE Kashmir, Irrigation and Flood Control Kashmir, R&B Kashmir, Mechanical Engineering Kashmir, Electric Maintenance and RE Kashmir, UEED Kashmir and Director Economic Reconstruction Agency Kashmir.
The two Committees will meet every Monday and Wednesday respectively to take stock of situation and other necessary decision, the GAD order said.
Through another order, the Government said that from November 1, Saturdays will be observed as off days. The Government had earlier cancelled off days of Saturday and Sunday during floods. Later, Sunday was declared as off day again. The Saturday will be observed as off day from November 1.
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