Srinagar :District Magistrate on Tuesday ordered cancellation of all movement passes issued by of before May 05 in order to curb the misuse of these movement passes. The DM said that new passes shall have 3-D hologram affixed on top.
In on order, copy of which lies with news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), district magistrate Dr. Shahid Iqbal Choudhary said the movement passes issued by of before May 05 stand cancelled and invalid.
“Whereas, restrictions were imposed within territorial jurisdiction of District Srinagar from 25th March 2020 with specific exemptions in view COVID containment requirements. In order to facilitate movement of essential services /medical emergencies/other specified services, movement Passes were issued in favour of various officials and non-officials,” reads the order.
The order further reads that the departments were asked to formulate plans with utmost caution recommending names for issuance of movement passes, keeping in view the precautions required in containment areas.
“Whereas, during various inspections conducted by the Magistrates and reports received from District Police large scale misuse of passes has surfaced including fake/forged/scanned/copied passes, invalid passes and use beyond the notified jurisdictions. Instances of scanned e-Passes have also been noticed,” the order reads.
DM in his order stated that this has been viewed as a serious threat to the containment measures/ efforts put in place across the district particularly Red Zones. “It has also been reliably learnt that officials/non-officials from various notified Red Zones of other districts also frequently move into the district without a valid Inter-District Pass required as per norms notified by the Government.”
The order reads that therefore, to regulate the use of movement passes as well as to facilitate the essential services in an organized manner all movement passes issued by or before May 05, 2020 shall stand cancelled/invalid.
“All essential services departments government offices the authorized/Banks/ Media persons/ other departments shall be provided/obtain specially designed tokens indicating name of organization and serial number. Their movement shall be facilitated by cross checking valid Identity-Cards with the token provided.”
The order also reads “Tokens being provided to departments shall be issued at their end after ascertaining the local requirements as per norms. Movement in Red Zones shall be restricted to persons on duty in respective Red Zones.”
The order further states that movement passes shall have signature of District Magistrate, Srinagar and have a 3-DHologram affixed on top. “In absence of original signatures and 3-D Hologram the pass shall be invalid. Passes issued by any authority other than the District Magistrate shall not be entertained”—(KNO)
