Darbar move: J-K offices reopens in Jammu; CM receives

As part of the pre-independence biannual practice of darbar move, the offices including Civil Secretariat, Rajbhawan and J&K Legislature today began its functioning in winter capital Jammu for the next six month.
Darbar move reopening was marred by protests and court-in-arrests by the opposition NC and Congress, who tried to gherao secretriat.
Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on her arrival at the Civil Secretariat inspected the ceremonial parade and received Guard-of-Honour by a contingent of the Jammu and Kashmir Police, official spokesman said.
Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Kumar Singh, Council of Ministers, Advisor to CM, Chief Secretary, DGP, Administrative Secretaries, other senior officers of police and civil administration, besides employees of the civil secretariat welcomed the Chief Minister.

On the occasion, the Chief Minister, who also interacted with mediapersons, in response to certain questions, said the government is making all out efforts to bring things back to normal in the valley and termed burning of schools in Kashmir as "most unfortunate".
She said education is among the worst impacted sectors because of the recent turmoil.

Expressing confidence that things will improve and peace shall prevail, Mehbooba said the authorities have been able to get hold of some miscreants who were involved in the burning of schools.
The Chief Minister also expressed anguish over the recent escalation of tension along the borders.

Terming the situation as a "testing one", she said there has been unrest in the valley internally on one hand and shelling along the borders externally on the other.
Mehbooba said it is one of "most unfortunate period in the history of the state."
She also expressed concern over the shutdown of schools along the borders.
"His (Vajpayee) efforts both on internal and external
fronts, including visit to Lahore and invite to President Musharraf, resulted in ceasefire along the borders," she said.
Expressing confidence that the leadership at the Centre will take some bold initiatives, Mehbooba said similar efforts will sure help make things better between the two neighbours.

The Chief Minister said our political leadership has taken initiatives to revive the process of reconciliation with Pakistan including Prime Minister Narendra Modi's invite to the Pakistani leadership and visit to Lahore.
However, it is time for Pakistani political leadership to reciprocate, she added.
Referring to local youth who have been misguided into militancy, the Chief Minister said all efforts are being made to handhold such youth back to mainstream.
Later, the Chief Minister also inspected few offices in the Civil Secretariat.
She enquired from the Director Estates regarding allotment of residential and office accommodation.
The Governor's secretariat in the Raj Bhavan, Jammu, commenced functioning here today.

The Secretariat had closed at Srinagar on October 27.
Governor N N Vohra went around the various wings of the Raj Bhavan Secretariat and directed the officers and staff to ensure cleanliness, courteous conduct in regard to all visitors, prompt disposal of all references, methodical record keeping, disaster management preparedness, and proper maintenance of the entire Raj Bhavan estate.
The Speaker, Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly, Kavinder Gupta along with Deputy Speaker Nazir Ahmed Gurezi inspected various sections in Assembly Secretariat and took stock of the arrangements made for smooth functioning on reopening of the offices in Winter Capital after Annual Durbar Move, here.

On the opening of offices in the winter capital after annual Durbar Move, the Deputy Chairman, Legislative Council, Jahangir Hussain Mir today inspected various wings of Council Secretariat and took stock of the arrangements made for smooth functioning of these offices.
The 141-year-old darbar practice was started by the Dogra Maharaja of the state Ranbir Singh in 1872 to escape the extreme weather conditions in Jammu during summers and in Srinagar during winters.