The dilapidated mini-secretariat in Dharamsala

The Dharamsala mini-secretariat, which used to hold the Chief Minister’s and Cabinet ministers’ offices, is dilapidated. The General Administration Department (GAD), which oversees the government secretariat in Shimla, was suggested to take over the current secretariat building in 2012. Dharamsala’s position as a quasi-second capital led to the discussion of this concept. Nevertheless, the former mini-secretariat building was not occupied by the GAD.

The chief minister’s office and the offices of Chander Kumar and Yadvinder Goma, two ministers from Kangra district, are located in the mini-secretariat. Additionally, it houses the Cabinet-ranked office of HPTDC RS Bali’s chairman. But none of the Cabinet ministers or the chief minister have made use of the secretariat’s offices. Since the Congress established the state’s government, Bali has had one seat in the secretariat.

According to sources, there isn’t a specific budget set up for maintaining the historic secretariat building. The secretariat building’s lowest two levels are occupied by several government agencies. Upon entering the former secretariat building, guests are greeted with leaking toilets lacking a water supply.

Paradoxically, the Congress used to accuse the BJP of being biased against the lower regions of the state, particularly Kangra district, according to BJP state spokesman Sanjay Sharma. The new mini-secretariat was constructed in Dharamsala, the district headquarters of Kangra district, between 2007 and 2012, during the BJP’s tenure. The plan was to turn the outdated mini-secretariat into a permanent secretariat where a minister would meet daily to hear complaints from the populace in the state’s poorer regions.

At least one minister sat in the Dharamsala mini-secretariat under the PK Dhumal-led BJP administration. But he said that the current administration had abandoned the practice.

“It is difficult for the people of remote areas in lower Himachal as Chamba and Kangra to go to Shimla to get their work done,” says Dharamsala resident RM Sharma. People from the districts of Chamba, Una, Kangra, and Hamirpur used to have their complaints addressed when ministers sat in the mini-secretariat. But no minister or high ranking government official sits there anymore. Regretfully, the current administration has given the mini-secretariat little attention.

Despite several calls and texts, Hemraj Bairwa, the Deputy Commissioner of Kangra, was not available for comment.