Shah Abbas
The government spends over Rs 9 crores of exchequer’s money to shuttle its officials between the twin capitals of Jammu and Kashmir.
The disclosure was made by the state government in legislative assembly on Tuesday which made it clear that it had no proposal for abandoning the present system of biannual Darbar Move done in the name of “ensuring equitable development of different regions of the state.”
The question about the biannual Darbar Move was raised by Balwant Singh Mankotia, whose party has been strongly demanding abolition of the decades-old practice. The government in response to a question in the legislative assembly government said, “Annual Expenditure of Rs 9,048.55 lakh has been incurred on the biannual move of offices from Jammu to Srinagar and vice-versa. It has been put in place for the benefit of people of the state.”
The critiques of Darbar Move are of the opinion that the “equitable development” is not any argument because Ladakh too is a very important region of the state and no such Darbar is moved to Leh. Mankotia’s party even demands two chief ministers for the state asstate High Court is already function at a time in Jammu as well as in Srinagar. The party claims to have a plan which, if goes through, will be appreciated and supported by one and all in both the regions.
“As of now, we are not able to furnish our ‘two chief ministers’ theory. But once the debate kick starts and the people of both regions start talking freely, we will also put forth our suggestion and we hope it is worth following,” Balwant Singh told Kashmir Life.
Presently, voices in favour of a separate state are gaining momentum especially in Jammu. There are even some political parties like ‘Jammu Mukti Morcha’ which have a sole agenda to get separate state for Jammu.
