Jammu, Oct 8: Faced with the paucity of official accommodation, around 500 government employees working with move offices of civil secretariat will be adjusted in private buildings being hired by Jammu and Kashmir Estates Department in the winter capital of state.
 Official sources revealed that the department was making accommodation arrangements for around 4500 employees, who will move with the secretariat to Jammu next month and the allocation process was almost the final stage.
 The Department, they said, was already facing paucity of residential accommodations due to increase in number of employees every year as result of which it has to hire private accommodations through various modes.
 Sources said that this year the department has plans to hire more than five hundred private accommodations for the move employees. “This included 75 private houses for higher officials and 450 apartments for lower rung employees”, sources said.
 They said that the renovation work including repairing of quarters, white washing, sanitary and electricity repair of the existing accommodations of the estate department has almost been completed for its new occupants.
 When contacted Deputy Director Estate Department Jammu Arun Manhas told Greater Kashmir that for the first time the department has set up a Complaint Redressal Cell to minimize and streamline the problems being faced by the occupants regarding plumbing, electricity etc.
 The occupants, he said, would be able to register their compliant telephonically on a toll free number 1800180701 and an immediate action would be taken to redress the complaints, he added.
 He further said that the report of complaints received and their redressal would be forwarded every fortnightly to the Director Estates Department.
 Manhas said that department is constructing light weight structure near Mini Secretariat for various department including GP Fund, Tourism, Animal Sheep Husbandry, Consumers Affair and Public Distribution (CAPD) and Transport. The structure being created comprised of 20 rooms, he said.
 He further said that to minimize the expense to the state exchequer expended in hiring private accommodations every year, department is trying to create its own assets and for process was on to acquire the land for the construction of residential apartments.

Lastupdate on : Mon, 8 Oct 2012 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Mon, 8 Oct 2012 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Tue, 9 Oct 2012 00:00:00 IST