A small government bungalow - the first in the row of buildings on Srinagar’s Gupkar Road - hosted a steady trickle of visitors. An elderly woman, a person with physical disability, and young men all waited in different rooms of the complex seeking redressal for their complaints at the J&K Government’s grievance redressal cell - Raabita. After years of bureaucratic rule in a system without elected representatives, a common refrain among locals across districts in Kashmir was a lack of “sunwai" - a hearing in government offices. Soon after taking over the reins of government in J&K, this time as the chief minister of a Union Territory, Omar Abdullah announced the setting up of a dedicated grievance redressal unit at Gupkar. For those in the waiting hall at the centre, the biggest attraction of the centre is that it is “convenient” to reach and saves them the hassle of going through multiple security checkpoints at Srinagar’s civil secretariat. “The long queues, the winding corridors, I could not keep up with the physical stress of knocking on doors at the Secretariat,” Shahzada Begum said. For three years, she said, she had been trying to secure final documentation for her retirement. “Due to some discrepancies with my Date of Birth, I was not able to secure my final papers. Then my son-in-law heard about Raabita and I came here. In two visits, the officers here helped resolve my case,” she said. Since it was inaugurated in December 2024, the cell has received over 19,500 complaints through email, phone and WhatsApp. Over 8,400 people have made personal visits to the Gupkar office. Before the selected government, the LG's office ran a grievance cell, although the lack of elected leaders was acutely felt even then. According to political advisor to Omar Abdullah, who’s overseeing the functioning of Raabita, Mudassir Shahmiri, in the seven months that the cell has been functioning, nearly 70 percent of the complaints received, have been focussed on developmental needs - electricity, water, bridges, roads and irrigation canals among others. About seven percent feature those seeking financial assistance - medical or marriage assistance. About two percent of the grievances brought to Raabita also feature employment related queries - those seeking jobs and also those seeking regularisation of current employment. Meanwhile, a small percentage are also militancy related cases, such as those seeking government intervention or compensation. The officers and the staff at the centre coordinate nearly 56 line departments to resolve public issues. For now, word on the grievance redressal cell has largely spread by mouth and the board outside the office only came up two months ago. The Centre has also has three landlines, a couple WhatsApp numbers, an email address The chief minister also makes personal visits to meet with delegations and address complaints. Last month, he also inaugurated a Raabita office in Jammu to make the redressal mechanism accessible in the ten districts of the Jammu region as well. At the centre, a group of young men stood huddled, all looking disappointed. They had come to the centre to ask for the re-test of the Fire and Emergency Services (F&ES) recruitment exams, under the scanner of the J&K Anti-Corruption Bureau over alleged irregularities. The exam was last conducted in 2020 and those preparing for the exam since, are seeking re-examination. However, the young men were in for a disappointment – the F&ES comes under the ‘Home’ department and is therefore not in Raabita’s ambit. By afternoon, a group of young men reached the Raabita office in Srinagar with a single page application for paving a 1 km stretch at the Chewa village in Budgam. Hilal Ahmad said, “If it rains for ten minutes, it gets difficult for us to go out. Even the children are forced to skip school.” Aziz Ahmad Rather, the undersecretary in-charge at the centre, took note of the complaint and dialled the concerned line department to follow up. Later, he spoke about his village’s continued support to Chief Minister Omar Abdullah. Omar won the Budgam seat in last year’s assembly polls but decided to vacate it and retain his other seat, Ganderbal. Hilal said: “We still consider Budgam as CM sahib’s constituency. He did not retain it but we voted for him and made sure he won.”
