Sher-e-Kashmir International Convention Centre, a magnificent and picturesque centre raised over an island in the picturesque Dal Lak overlooked by the shining Zabarwan Mountains speaks of the aesthetics of its originators. Srinagar being the summer capital of the State, having such an imposing and attractive centre was not only a necessity but also glory and grandeur of a capital city. This centre has a rich history and so many important, crucial and historical meetings, conventions and functions have been held in it over the years. There is hardly a week when one or the other important meeting, convention or conference is not held at this centre in which VVIPs of the State, Centre and from foreign countries participate.
Jammu is the winter capital of the State. The Secretariat spends as much of time in a year here in Jammu in winter as in Srinagar in summer. There are as many of conferences, conventions and meetings to be held in Jammu during winter as in Srinagar, minus plus notwithstanding. But look at the Jammu Convention Centre and then compare it with the SKICC and you will find the difference in treating the two centers. What can one say about Jammu Convention Centre? One should pay a casual visit to it and then one will find out in what ruins this 35 crore rupee investment stands. The JCC has been the child of the Department of Hospitality and Protocol and it was inaugurated by no less a person that the Chief Minister of the State. What happened to it after inauguration is a regrettable story of apathy, inefficiency, irresponsibility and discrimination. It is a huge modern ruin in a vast space looking like a medieval palace abandoned by its owners and allowed to decay by inches. This is a Convention Center where VVIPs from the State, the rest of the country and from abroad are supposed to come and confer among themselves. The centre has no electricity connection, no water connection, no technical and skilled staff to handle the kitchen gadgets, no reception room paraphernalia, no gardener to remove the wild growth of bushes and shrubs that overwhelm the pathways and the parking lot and what is more the leaking roof and accumulating drain water. This is a magnificent structure raised and then abandoned to rust and wear and decay.
Can there be a bigger joke with the people of Jammu? Can there be a more sadist treatment with the winter capital than providing it with the ruinous Convention Centre? Is this the much touted “equal treatment” to all the three regions? But more than the Department of Hospitality and Protocol, we shall hold the Jammu elected representatives responsible for allowing the JCC to run into ruins and ignominy. The existing ruinous condition of the Convention Centre at Jammu tells us that no grand scale conventions and conferences are held in Jammu during the winter stint of the secretariat. If that is the truth, the question is what then was the need of spending 35 crore rupees on a structure that would be left to shambles. Is it that the Government finds no utility or need of such complexes in Jammu and that all the favours and privileges should be reserved for Srinagar? The SKICC at Srinagar could be the model for JCC meaning the manpower and services should have been almost same, supervisory staff should have been of equal strength, skilled and technical staff to run the gadget should have been at par and the managerial system should have been almost the same. Why does the Department of Hospitality and Protocol adopt two standards for the identical institution? It speaks loudly of disinterest in Jammu’s development. And when the people of Jammu region protest and bring out protest rallies, the authorities come out with accusations that this or that party is instigating the people. The purpose of willful ruination of JCC is to deprive the people of the region from aspiring for higher and more intellectual level of life and indirectly curb their instinct for a more enriched cultural life. We regret the apathy which the Jammu based MLAs and MLCs have been showing towards this issue. Don’t they feel it would make them proud if the Jammu Convention Centre were of as much grandeur and grace as the Srinagar. Convention Centre? Should not they meet the Chief Minister and the Governor and hand them a Memorandum that JCC is made a victim of discrimination and official apathy?
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