Baramulla residents express concern over administrative vacancies, officers holding additional charges

Baramulla, Nov 21: The civil society members and the Traders Federation of Baramulla have raised serious concerns over the growing administrative inefficiency caused by vacant posts of key officials and the overburdening of existing officers with additional charges.

Following the outcry in the Baramulla, the Traders Federation Baramulla and the members of Civil Society Baramulla held a press conference on Thursday and demanded an immediate end to the official apathy towards the residents of the district.

President Traders Federation Baramulla, Tariq Ahmad Mughloo, expressed deep anguish over the authorities' failure to fill these crucial posts and said that the current system of additional charges is leading to widespread administrative neglect and inefficiency.

He said the Executive Officer of Municipal Council Baramulla is holding additional charges for Watergam and Uri Municipal Committees, leaving little time for Baramulla's needs. He said following an additional charge, he is unable to serve his parent post of appointment to Baramulla Municipal Council.

“How is it possible for an official managing three municipal committees to deliver justice? He devotes a single day a week to Baramulla, which itself shows how much Baramulla town is affected,” said Mughloo.

He said it is not only the Municipal Council Baramulla which is facing the issue, the Tehsil Office in Baramulla has been without a permanent head for over 6 months. He said the current Tehsildar of Kreeri is managing Baramulla on an additional charge basis, leading to delays and inefficiencies in addressing local issues.

“It is rare for a district headquarters to have a headless Tehsil office. This is clear discrimination against the people of Baramulla,” Mughloo added.

He said another issue confronting the people of the Baramulla district is the Department of Industries Baramulla. He said the head of the Industries Department in Baramulla has been given additional charge of Budgam district, causing significant delays in addressing local issues, particularly for unemployed youth seeking assistance with government schemes.

“Whenever we seek an appointment, we are told the official is either in a meeting or busy in Budgam. This is an injustice to Baramulla residents,” Mughloo said.

He said similarly the Executive Engineer, PDD Baramulla is holding additional charges of three other places due to which the overall functioning of the PDD Department Baramulla gets affected.

The Traders Federation and civil society members have urged the authorities to immediately address these administrative lapses by filling the vacant posts and discontinuing the practice of assigning additional charges.

“The people of Baramulla deserve better governance and dedicated officials to manage their affairs,” said a member of civil society.

The press conference was jointly organised by the Traders Federation Baramulla, the Transport Coordination Committee Baramulla, members of the Sikh Civil Society, and various other organisations.