The Civil Secretariat and other Move offices opened here on Monday after the Annual Durbar Move from Srinagar, the summer capital of the state.Chief Minister, Ms Mehbooba Mufti, on her arrival at the Civil Secretariat inspected the ceremonial parade and received Guard-of-Honour by a contingent of the J&K Police.Deputy Chief Minister, Dr Nirmal Kumar Singh, Council of Ministers, Advisor to CM, Chief Secretary, DGP, Administrative Secretaries, other senior officers of Police and Civil Administration, besides employees of the Civil Secretariat welcomed the Chief Minister.The presidents and other office-bearers of Civil Secretariat Non-Gazetted Employees Union and Low Paid Employees Union presented bouquets to the Chief Minister and greeted her on the first day of opening of Move offices.On the occasion, the Chief Minister also interacted with the members of the press. In response to certain questions, the Chief Minister said the Government is making all out efforts to bring things back to normal in the valley and termed burning of schools in the valley as very most unfortunate. She said education is among the worst impacted sectors because of the recent turmoil.Expressing confidence that things will improve and peace shall prevail, the Chief Minister said that the authorities have been able to get hold of some miscreants who were involved in burning schools.The Chief Minister also expressed anguish over the recent escalation of tension along the borders.
Terming the situation as a testing one, she said there has been unrest in the valley internally on one hand and shelling along the borders externally on the other. She said it is one of most unfortunate period in the history of the State. She also expressed concern over the shutdown of schools along the borders.Reiterating the urgency for revival of the peace and reconciliation process, the Chief Minister said that former Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s formula is the way out and solution to the issues in the region. “His (Vajpayee’s) efforts both on internal and external fronts including visit to Lahore and invite to President Musharraf resulted in ceasefire along the borders,” she said.Expressing confidence that the leadership at the Centre will take some bold initiatives, Ms Mehbooba said similar efforts will sure help make things better between the two neighbors.The Chief Minister said our political leadership has taken initiatives to revive the process of reconciliation with Pakistan including Prime Minister, Mr Narendra Modi’s invite to the Pakistani leadership and visit to Lahore. However, it is time for Pakistani political leadership to reciprocate, she added. Referring to local youth who have been misguided into militancy, the Chief Minister said that all efforts are being made to handhold such youth back to mainstream.Later, the Chief Minister also inspected few offices in the Civil Secretariat. She enquired from the Director Estates regarding allotment of residential and office accommodation.She then attended her office and resumed routine official work.