By Sant Kumar Sharma

 

Jammu & Kashmir has two official capitals at Jammu and Srinagar which are winter and summer capital respectively. In normal circumstances, durbar move from Srinagar to Jammu is at the beginning of the winters during the last week of October. Similarly, the durbar move happens from Jammu to Srinagar in the last week or April.

 

This year, the passage of J&K re-organization bill on August 5-6 in the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha has led to extraordinary circumstances. Most of the Kashmir valley has remained closed and there appears to be little likelihood of things getting sorted out in the near future.

 

Consequently, the government has decided to stop mobile services in Kashmir altogether. Landline connections are being gradually restored in some areas but the situation appears to be far from satisfactory as far as connectivity is concerned. Since most work is now dependent on the availability of internet, disruptions are a natural consequence of the prevailing situation.

 

 

 

Private vehicles have started plying and medicine shops are open in most areas. Other business establishments have remained shut so far. For the foreseeable future, there may be no change in the ground situation. What are the options that the government can exercise in this scenario?

 

For one, starting camp offices of many establishments in Jammu is a realistic thing to do. Be it various ministries or their subordinate offices, some officers and support staff, mainly those from Jammu, can make these camp offices functional.

 

Presently, virtually nothing is happening even in those offices in Srinagar which are open. The reason is that either the local staff is unable to reach the offices or they are remaining absent deliberately as if in sulk. This is not something that can be allowed to continue indefinitely.

 

Breaking this impasse is not impossible and the top officials can take a call on this soon. The sooner they do, the better it will be for the ordinary people. Leaving skeletal staff behind, moving the offices to Jammu and start operations from here needs to be given serious thought.