Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Apr 22: Finance Minister Haseeb Drabu today asked departments to archive all cabinet decisions since 1985 as the State Government has not archived a single order for the last 31 years.
Drabu asked the departments to archive all cabinet decisions since 1985 within six months and make it a regular affair thereafter.
“I want to see from now every cabinet decision, every Government order of structural importance and other important documents archived,” he instructed the officers during a meeting here today.
“This fact is dismaying that in Jammu and Kashmir no Government documents have been archived from the last 31 years,” he said.
Drabu directed the Department of Libraries to have three provincial libraries in Srinagar, Jammu and Ladakh.
He asked the officers to create and have one fully equipped library in each district and also create public libraries in collaboration with civil society and educational institutions.
He cautioned the officials against procuring any book till a full-fledged policy comes in place.
“I want centralized book procurement policy in place and till then stop purchase of books. If I hear one book is purchased, you will face the consequences,” he said.
He directed the State Gazetteer Department to immediately put in place an editorial board comprising eminent academicians and asked it to start working on preparing state gazetteers for Jhelum Valley, Chenab Valley, Indus Valley, Pir Panjal Region and Tawi Basin.
He also issued instructions to revive the rich tradition of recording oral histories.
Assuring full financial support, he said, “I will give you Rs 2 crore per gazetteer but the quality of the gazette shall have to be vastly improved.”
He told the group of officers to work on “what is where and then verify the authenticity. Let us know what we have”.
Stressing that revival of culture is the only way to have sustainable peace in the state, Drabu said there is a need to for cultural awareness among people for sustainable normalcy.
Drabu directed officials to frame a comprehensive culture policy that is oriented towards creation of a vibrant cultural movement in the state.
For preservation of monuments, Drabu asked officers to rope in reputed conservation architects for developing a proper system for conservation initiatives.
“We are fond of fencing two things – monuments and graveyards – and probably that is our concept of conservation,” he said.
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