They are hardly complaining. In fact, they don’t even rue the loss of the elected government since the withdrawal of the BJP’s support to the PDP led to the collapse of the JK government last week.
On a warm afternoon on Tuesday, security men posted at the gates of the civil secretariat in Srinagar are no longer jumpy. Their manner is of people who have a lot of time at hand and are going about their job in a leisure manner. “When elected governments are in command, the number of people waiting here at this time would be around 500 but today their number is around 100-150,” said an official. Around 530-540 people visited the secretariat today, he said.
When there is an elected government in power in the state, officials say that between 1500 and 2000 petitioners queue up outside the secretariat gate to meet ministers. But since the Governor took over the number has dwindled to between 400 and 5000.
“It is obvious that public rush declines in absence of an elected government because politicians are directly connected with the people. More than bureaucrats, they come to ministers to get their grievances redressed,” a senior bureaucrat preferring not to be named told Greater Kashmir.
According to him, one of the main challenges for Governor NN Vohra and his advisors is to facilitate interaction between officers and public at different levels. Inside the secretariat, the chatter of people is missing and security officials are lounging around. Only a few people can be seen waiting outside the offices of bureaucrats. The rooms which housed the offices of ministers are locked and nameplates have also been removed from them.
Talking to Greater Kashmir, commissioner secretary, General Administration Department, Hilal Parrey said people come and meet officers here .Amid all this, the bureaucrats are a happy lot in Governor’s rule. “We feel very comfortable to work now. There are no pulls and pressures on us,” a senior official holding a vital department said.
Another officer said many times their colleagues were unceremoniously removed from significant postings during the previous government on objecting to the proposals of ministers. “These days are real freedom for us. We don’t have fear of punishment postings now. We will live up to the expectations of public,” he said.
It is worthwhile to mention that after the imposition of Governor’s rule, Vohra has appointed two advisors and delegated powers to administrative secretaries to smoothly run affairs of the state during Governor’s rule.