Is Governor’s rule proving better than elected Govts?

Vohra cuts red tape, directs officers to be austere

Unlike the elected government which witness excessive bureaucracy, governance in the State is improving during the Governor’s rule as the Governor has been able to cut the red tape.

During the past two months, an impression that governance in the State has improved drastically under Governor Narinder Nath Vohra is gaining ground.

According to top officers in the administration, during this stint of the Governor’s rule in the State, Governor Vohra has been after them, pushing them to implement decisions meant for the greater good of the public.

According to sources, the Governor has asked for sending the attendance of every divisional officer by 10:45 am to Raj Bhavan in Jammu, the winter capital of the State.

The sources said he has also asked all government departments to start biometric attendances by March end to ensure punctuality in offices.

They said Governor Vohra has also been gearing up the administration for speeding up the process for conducting Urban Local Bodies polls in the State.

Taking to Rising Kashmir, Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industries (KCCI) President, Mushtaq Wani said people had witnessed some relief administratively since Governor’s rule was imposed in the State.

“Some administrative decisions like providing relief to the people whose houses were damaged in the September 2014 flood and small traders were taken during the Governor’s rule,” he said.

The KCCI President said the chamber also appreciates the Governor for taking a decision on night landing facility for Srinagar International Airport.

Governor Vohra had directed the Divisional Commissioner Kashmir, Asghar Samoon to take up the issue with Defence Ministry on the issue, which has also given a nod to it.

“He has been taking some one-man decisions, which we appreciate,” Wani said.

With the night landing facility on the Srinagar Airport, flights can land in Srinagar till 10 pm.

“This is a positive development for the tourism industry,” Wani said.

Governor Vohra has also been proactive in starting dredging of River Jhelum and flood spill channels on a large scale, which had been a non-starter during the People Democratic Party-Bharatiya Janata Party coalition government in the State.

The tenders for the dredging of River Jhelum and flood spill channels were invited only after Governor’s rule was imposed in the State.

Governor’s rule has also been good news for the retired government employees, who previously had to stand in long queues at the Accountant General’s Office but in the Vohra’s administration, their files are being cleared on priority at the earliest.

“No paper stops now,” officers said. “Now files get cleared immediately, which did not happen in the so-called popular governments.”

Recently, Governor Vohra also released all the pending Constituency Development Funds (CDFs) of all the legislators in a single go.

In his speech on Wednesday, former chief minister and National Conference (NC) Working President, Omar Abdullah said people were happy with the Governor’s rule due to the bad governance during 10-months of the PDP-led government.

The Governor also ordered the bodies funded by the government to go for balanced pace of expenditure.

Besides, he has asked the government departments have been asked to maintain utmost economy in organizing conferences, seminar and workshops and passed strict instructions to them to discourage holding exhibitions1 fairs, seminars and conferences outside the State.

Governor Vohra also asked the government departments to ban holding meetings and conferences at private hotels and told them to instead utilize government buildings and premises for the purpose.

He also instructed the departments to discourage purchase of new vehicles to meet the operational requirement until that was done against as a replacement against condemned vehicles.

The Governor also passed on strict directions to regulate travel expenditure of the officers asking them to travel only by economy class regardless of their entitlements and avoid travel wherever holding video conferences was possible instead of attending meetings.