JK News Today Commentary
Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha is outpacing the Kashmir observers who assess the performance from their own political and developmental yardsticks – the mantra of new governor is to strike a connect with the local masses .
His methodology is simple- he reaches out to them, listens and then takes on the spot decisions to make them feel that he is not an outsider but a passionate well-wisher of theirs among them. In less than a fortnight, he has given glimpses of his style of functioning that envisages compassion with the people and accountability in the administration.
On second day in his office , Sinha visited SMHS hospital in Srinagar where even the elected representatives during their rule were scared of visiting for, they feared angry protests.
But Manoj Sinha interacted with the hospital staff and discovered what was ailing the system. He ordered immediate appointment of 200 nursing orderlies to handle the crisis caused by the pandemic of Corona Virus.
His visit to the hospital signified two things : one, he knew that the UT of J&K was caught in a grim battle against the virus and was handicapped because of the lack of resources and manpower. Without caring for his personal security – Srinagar is on the radar of militants. This also was a message to the bureaucracy that their claims about the situation would be open to physical verification . There is a lot of mess in health sector – the system has collapsed . So, he took the first step to start the course-correction .
On Tuesday – August 17 – his 11th day in office was significant for he moved out of Srinagar city and reached Ganderbal, where he listened to the grievances and aspirations of the locals, and did something more than offering assurances, he asked the officials to take note of things and come back to him with the action taken report, so to say.
This was something unprecedented , as also were some of his administrative actions of transferring the mining rights to panchayats, bringing all administrative secretaries to Srinagar for over a month from August 24 to give a semblance of the full-fledged Durbar Move to the people of Kashmir . The idea was clear that the durbar move cannot be broken for the fear of the corona virus- the virus is not scary of for the administrative secretaries but also for the common people. If the people can live and work with SoPs , why can’t administrative secretaries.
If this style of functioning is any indication , Manoj Sinha can transform the landscape of Kashmir . At the moment, howsoever, it is time to keep fingers crossed. But nevertheless, his steps have opened new vistas of hope and promise in Kashmir.
