Srinagar: The newly sworn-in government led by Omar Abdullah is expecting the Central government to restore statehood "very soon", said a senior minister.
In an exclusive interview with ETV Bharat, Sakina Itoo, minister of health, education and social welfare, said “We are hopeful that the statehood will be restored very soon”.
This comes after the Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha okayed the first resolution of the cabinet urging for restoration of statehood. In the union territory, the procedure demands the LG to clear the cabinet notes.
“State has its own powers and the UT has its own rules,” Itoo said. A three-time legislator, she is the only woman in the five-member cabinet led by Abdullah.
“We contested elections to get back the rights of statehood so that we can work for people. For now, we can only do what lies in our domain.”
She referred to the promise of restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir by Union Home minister Amit Shah in the Parliament saying, the "statehood is our right as Jammu and Kashmir state is the oldest state".
According to Itoo, the government will follow the commitments made in the manifesto of the National Conference, including the resolution in the legislative assembly against the abrogation of Article 370. “We are working on it (resolution on Article 370) and will fulfill the commitment.”
On ‘Darbar Move’, Itoo expected it to resume this year saying, "There is pressure from Jammu as well as Kashmir and it will be implemented shortly". "I am hopeful it will resume this winter and the proposal is expected to be cleared in the cabinet meeting,” she added.
Darbar Move was a bi-annual practice of shifting the seat of power to Jammu for six months during winters and moving it back to Srinagar for the remaining six months. The practice was stopped in 2021 with the business community in Jammu complaining about loss of business as hundreds of families from Kashmir would move to Jammu to escape the cold winters in the Valley.
In the 1870s, the Dogra Monarch Maharaja Ranbir Singh had started the shifting of 'Darbar' from Srinagar to Jammu to escape harsh winter in the Valley and the Jammu’s extreme heat in the summer.
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