| In age of technology, JK regimes rely on gunny bags to transfer files from one city to another | | Darbar Move: Demand for digitization of records gains momentum | | Early Times Report
Jammu, Apr 23: The demand for digitizing of the official records is gaining momentum in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir as the debate over expenditure incurred on centuries old practice of Darbar Move is hogging the headlines.
The government has already acknowledged that crores are spent to transfer records from Srinagar to Jammu and vice- versa.
Recently, when Jammu and Kashmir administration hinted at abolishing Darbar move practice many people had endorsed the idea terming it necessary measure to save money in the already cash-starved place.
The government has however cited the transfer of official records as a major impediment in developing the idea of no Darbar Move into practice, stressing that the records cannot be set at a single place while the offices operate in two different cities.
If the digitization project is implemented it would avoid bundling of the official records in gunny bags and gigantic boxes, piling them in trucks that travel through the treacherous mountains to reach the destinations- to Srinagar in summers and to Jammu in winters. “The Darbar Move was introduced some 170 years ago. At a time there were no computers, no phones, and no internet. The 170 years later it is unnatural to find that we are following the same old practice even when the internet and computers have become the very inseparable features of our lives. Why the government is reluctant to digitize the records continues to remain a mystery,” says an IT Professional working with the government.
According to the official sources, the government had previously decided to introduce the new File Tracking System (FTS) and Letter Monitoring System (LMS) through which it intended to digitize the files and records in the Civil Secretariat and increase the working efficiency of the departments.
It was informed that all the required steps in this regard were taken in two years, primarily ensuring good internet connectivity, and that from July 1, 2017 FTS, and LMS was ought to be started.
However, thanks to the dilatory and bizarre way of the functioning of the authorities, the project like scores of other vital and crucial projects couldn’t see day’s light. “The government must seriously consider the project of digitization if it really intends to save people money and shun the obsolete practice that used to act nothing less than a drain for the public purse,” said a senior official in the government. |
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