Jammu & Kashmir: First Elected Govt In Six Years Expected To Fill Administrative Void

A serpentine queue of residents with longstanding grievances due to bureaucratic apathy was seen outside the civil secretariat, the highest seat of governance.

Srinagar: As the newly formed government with Omar Abdullah at the helm enters office, people of the valley are high in expectation after being aloof from public representation for six years.

On Monday, when the oath was administered to the newly elected legislators of the 90-member legislative assembly in Srinagar, people gathered under the mild-autumn sun outside the civil secretariat in Srinagar, the highest seat of governance. Carrying documents and applications, a serpentine queue of citizens eager to present their cases to the newly elected ministers was something the valley witnessed after a long hiatus.

Arif Ahmad, who had trudged nearly 60 kilometres to seek redress for a personal grievance said, “I left home early this morning to ensure I got here in time. This is our government and they will listen to us. Earlier, we didn’t know who to approach since only bureaucrats were in charge”.For more than six years, Jammu and Kashmir had been under central rule, with the stark absence of public representatives forcing people to run from pillar to post for redressal. With the administration managed solely by bureaucrats, many citizens complained about the lack of access to higher offices.

Now, with Omar Abdullah assuming the chief ministership alongside five cabinet ministers on October 16, the administrative void is expected to be bridged soon. In his inaugural address in Jammu on Saturday, Abdullah promised that the voices of the people "won’t go unheard" and that his government would make decisions with the public in mind. “Let bureaucrats understand, in a week or two, that a new democratically elected government is in place and decisions will no longer be made without considering the public’s opinion—whether at the secretariat or in their offices,” he said.

This assurance has resonated with the public, many of whom now see Abdullah's government as their own.

“We voted for this government. We can now approach our legislators anytime. No one can stop us. They promised to resolve our long-pending issues. Bahut kaam hain (there’s a lot of work to be done). We used to come here in the last five years too. But there was none to hear us out,” a resident of Tral who stood in the queue said.