Exodus Background:

January 1990 saw the beginning of a brutal wave of Ethnic Cleansing in Kashmir Valley as Kashmiri Pandit community was forced by Jihadi Islamists to leave the land of their forefathers. Families left their homes and hearths, carrying whatever little they could – practically jumping into an abyss in whatever mode of transport they could procure. Some had relatives in Jammu/ NCR and could seek a transient roof over their heads but for a vast majority, there was no secure place to live. I am a first-hand witness to people unloading their frugal belongings from trucks at the gates of Shree Ranbireshwar Temple (Shiv Mandir) Jammu and Geeta Bhavan, Jammu, living under open skies. This probably was the first instance of internally displaced refugees within India being termed as Migrants.

Migrants in a Food Que at Shiv Mandir, Jammu

Over the next few months, Tented Camps were established towards the outskirts of Jammu City (Muthi, Purkhoo, Jhiri, Mishriwala, Nagrota etc). Charitable organizations played an important role in providing food and material for day-to-day use – kitchen utensils, buckets, blankets etc. till the Govt woke up.

In 1990 itself, under Governor Jagmohan, a Relief Office was opened in Jammu headed by a seasoned officer, Mr Swami Raj Sharma. Since then, Govt has taken several actions to streamline the relief and rehabilitation efforts. These include:

• Registration of Migrants under different categories (Govt servants, pensioners, non-salaried Migrants)
• Registration was not confined to members of KP community; Muslims, Sikhs, Hindus living in Kashmir and affected by Militancy were included. People from Jammu province affected by militancy too were registered as Migrants. However, an overwhelming majority of Migrants were from KP community
• Free Rations to ALL Migrants registered with Relief Deptt, including Govt Servants (J&K as well as Central Govt, PSUs including banks etc)
• To all Migrants under Non- Govt Employees category, Cash Relief was provided on a monthly basis.
• It took some time for the behemoth that our Govt functioning is to streamline the processes and release cash relief

• Central Govt/ PSUs including Banks, HMT, CSIR, Silk Board adjusted employees at different locations, across India. One of my relatives working in AG Office, Srinagar was transferred to Gwalior; another relative, working in a PSU was transferred to Jaipur.

• State Govt, however did not ‘adjust’ most of the migrant employees and they used to get salary without doing any meaningful work!

• Muthi Camp Phase 1 was developed as a One Room Kitchen accommodation for Migrants.

• Later, in 2004, President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam announced development of 2 room sets/ tenements at various locations including Muthi, Purkhoo and Jagti Nagrota townships.

Some ‘migrants’ took advantage of the chaos – there were complaints of people having inflated number of ‘family members’ on their ration cards (to get extra rations which was later sold in the market) or having multiple ration cards. There might have been some kind of justification for people who were reduced to paupers, particularly those from villages. Those were terrible times and people were desperate. However, there was little justification for people receiving salaries from Govt. Relief Deptt did undertake some kind of verification from time to time to weed out the fake Ration Cards – even an amnesty was declared for people holding ‘extra’ cards. In the process, the entire community got a bad name. One major revision of Data Forms was done in 2009 to update Migrant Ration Cards.

Migrants living/ working outside Jammu and other major clusters like Delhi suffer from an inherent disadvantage – particularly if they are employed in private sector. Not knowing the intricacies and ways of working of Relief Department, they often face serious harassment at the hands of clerical staff of the Relief Deptt when they come to get some rectification or updating done to their cards. I would like to share the travails of a close friend at the hands of ‘Relief Babus’. The fact sheet:

• My friend’s father was a Central Govt Employee and retired in 1992; he was not getting/ claiming any relief.
• My friend, working in private sector, was transferred out of J&K but his parents continued to live in Jammu till his mother was diagnosed with cancer and passed away in 2003.
• Due to health issues, father was unable to visit Jammu on his own. My friend had a job involving extensive travel (domestic as well as international) due to which he could not attend to the paperwork.
• In 2015, my friend’s father passed away. In 2021, my friend retired from his job.
• My friend discovered that for getting Domicile Certificate, he needs to have an updated Ration Card. Since his parents had passed away, he had to come to Jammu for rectification. Also, probably the Card had not been updated in 2009 hence was under ‘suspension’

My friend and myself reached one particular Zonal Office (let us call it Office A) on 09.08.2021 morning at 11 am. My friend showed his papers to the Babu on duty – who, after several minutes of scrutiny and a few questions, told us,” You have come to the wrong office; your file is at Office B,”. From Office B we were further directed to Office C. Luckily, at Office C, the gentleman who went thru our papers recognized his own signatures (vintage 1990) and told us that our file is definitely at Office A. He spoke to the Babu at Office A and scolded him for sending us on a wild goose chase. So, we were back to office A and the Babu sheepishly smiled and said that he would now have to find our papers and that would take time. I could not disagree – the office looked straight out of 1900 or at best 1947 vintage.

Chaos at its worst. Finding ‘papers’ in this mess is the job of an expert!

Everything about the 3 offices we visited was primitive. From filing of papers to the upkeep of records – things are at the mercy of nature. God forbid, if there is an outbreak of termites in the office, God knows how many ‘records’ shall vanish and how many people shall be open to harassment. Both myself and my friend having worked in Corporate Sector were finding ourselves flabbergasted at the functioning of the offices. No phone is available, no computer system for searching/ data input. The entire system reeks of an era bygone.

Primitive tools and filing methods. A sharp tipped screw driver type of instrument is used to punch a hole to tag papers. Basics like glue stick, file covers etc have to be provided by the Migrant concerned.

What came as a further shock was that the Babus were finding a NEW FAULT with our papers EVERY DAY. The joke of the day was that a KAS rank officer asked my friend to produce proof of having worked outside J&K over the last 30 years. My friend was asked to produce certificates from all 4 Companies where he had worked. He suggested that he could provide an affidavit sworn in front of a Notary or a Judge, confirming each point. The babus were unmoved and it was on our insistence that the case file was forwarded to the Office of Relief Commissioner. We decided to meet the RC, Mr TK Bhat because of his reputation of being fair and just. Unfortunately, around 16-17 August Mr TK Bhat was replaced by another KAS officer, Mr Ashok Pandita. We decided to barge our way into his office even at the risk of creating a ruckus. Perhaps it was the amount of perspiration on our faces or our mad looks of frustration that made Mr Pandita give us a patient hearing; he called for the file and asked a few searching questions of the babus. He then issued instructions that the Orders for Restoration of our Ration Card should be handed over within 24 hours. It was such a relief to meet a result-oriented Relief Commissioner.

Our troubles were far from over. Armed with the Order from RC’s office, we marched into the Office A. The Babu showed the order to his boss and then, very calmly suggested that our Original RC is missing hence we shall have to lodge a complaint/ FIR with Police and also, a Notice in the local newspaper. I politely asked the gentleman (my friend was bristling with anger) as to why he had not suggested that part on Day One when we showed him all papers. He admitted that he had realized the shortcoming in our papers but wanted things to be done step by step. Had he informed us on Day 1, our time would have been saved. But, then, every Babu wants to prove his efficiency by creating hurdles! My friend is yet to receive his Ration Card. Domicile is at least a couple of weeks of legwork/ follow up away. I hope my writing this detail does not derail his efforts. Babus can be petty minded and full of vengeance!

Lessons and Conclusions:

My experience of dealing with the babus of Relief Office for 15 days has been bitter and highly frustrating. My lessons and conclusions are:

• 90% of Babus involved are KPs and obviously Migrants themselves. Yet they enjoy putting people thru a perfect physical and emotional wringer.
• KP babus are known to be efficient – but unfortunately they have developed the perverse and negative “In-Growing Toe Nail” Mindset. We have the legend of a KP official assigned the task of counting waves (Lahre Ganzravun) by a king because of complaints about his corrupt practices. He turned this assignment into an ‘earning opportunity’!
• Babus consider people working in Private Sector as vermin, unworthy of existence. While filling up details of Data Form, one Babu asked my friend in some sort of distaste,” You worked in Private and your Son too is working in Private,”!!

• Our papers were checked/ seen by 6 officials of various Relief Zone Offices – each one suggested a different solution and a different form.

• The thirst for documents/ photocopies is immense. For everything, they need a new/ different proof

• Presence of officials in office appears to be optional. Working timings are most relaxed and flexible. If you go to office in the morning, you may not find the same babu in his seat in the afternoon – mostly a new face shall be there, one who was attending to important personal work in the morning segment!! May be this is ‘relay working’!

• Maybe this ‘style of working’ is deliberate – by frustrating a person, maybe other opportunities open up for the babu.

• People coming from outside Jammu for getting ‘work done’ at Relief Office often don’t have the luxury of infinite time. Most of such people are working in private sector and can’t avail a luxury of 25-40 days personal follow up. A relative told me that his sister came from Bengaluru for a 2-month period. Staying with relatives is a restricted option. Commuting in auto-rickshaws is horribly costly in Jammu.

• Our Babus know these weaknesses and also, know how to exploit those. I visited various offices for 15 working days and saw people waiting for hours together (Babu not in seat) or being diverted to other offices (file not here, please search at Office X), come after 3 days, file has gone to ‘sahab’; come after 3 pm etc.

• Such an obstacle mindset gives rise to tout and middlemen facilitation. People who want to avoid multiple visits or harassment simply find a shortcut.

• Because of such obstacles, many people just throw up their hands in despair saying, “To hell with this Domicile Certificate”! My uncle living in Pune has done exactly that. For almost 1 year his file/ Ration Card has been in limbo. Today, he says he has no desire to follow up. His son has an international assignment and he is happy to be a citizen of India!

My suggestions:

• All Zonal Offices need to be computerised so that people are not sent chasing wild geese.
• Departmental reshuffle: People who have been occupying same seats for years need to be replaced by a new set of people. Chances are they might prove to be less cynical in attitude and less prone to shortcuts
• Training of Staff: During my 4 decades in Corporate World, I found TRAINING as a force multiplier. It can definitely improve functioning and result orientedness.

During the last 15 days, I had interaction with a large number of victims as well as Babus. Govt has framed rules in good faith but our Babus know how to circumvent to create difficulties. The tragedy of Exodus appears to have failed to teach us a lesson. The Covid Pandemic has failed to teach us that life can be so uncertain/ fragile and that a shroud has no pockets. Unless we KPs change our mindset, we shall continue to act like crabs in a basket, each one pulling the legs of another one. God helped us by opening entire India for our children soon after Exodus. In the last 30 years thousands of our children have found gainful employment (mostly Private Sector) due to the technical education they got in colleges across India. Should we not let go of our perverse mindsets, our biases and mistrust of other community members? Why can’t we be community oriented like the Sikhs (particularly post 1984) or the Jains or the Parsee community? Every right minded KP needs to introspect.