Lieutenant governor Girish Chandra Murmu’s first public meeting in Kashmir on Friday saw a few ordinary civilians and more government officials, betraying public apathy towards the government even months after the scrapping of the erstwhile state’s special status.

Murmu, who took over as the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir’s first LG on October 31, made his first public appearance in the Valley, at Sonpah village in Budgam. Budgam in central Kashmir is a relatively peaceful district of the Valley.

An official said a little more than 300 people participated in the event, and they were mostly government officials. According to the official, the residents of Sonpah and adjoining villages largely stayed away from the event.

“There were many more security personnel guarding the event (than participants). The few civilians who turned up were mostly panchayat members,” another official said.

The event was part of the government’s Back to Village campaign, the first outreach after the scrapping of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status on August 5.

Thousands of officers are going to villages to address the grievances of people. A government official and a sarpanch died in a militant attack on November 26 during one such event in south Kashmir’s Anantnag.

The week-long outreach has received lukewarm response.

An official spokesman claimed that LG Murmu addressed a “huge gathering” during which he said the government was working on the implementation of the 73rd and 74th amendments of the Panchayati Raj Act, which will give more power to panchayats.

Murmu was accompanied by chief secretary B.V.R. Subrahmanyam, Kashmir divisional commissioner Baseer Ahmad Khan and Kashmir inspector-general of police S.P. Pani.

“The LG observed that the B2V2 (Back To Village, second edition) programme was going smoothly across Jammu and Kashmir and he was overwhelmed to see people in large numbers taking part in the ongoing B2V2 programme,” the spokesman said.

“The ongoing programme has generated massive response from the public. However, unfortunately some people are trying to sabotage it in some areas,” he added.

Murmu said the attack that killed the officer and the sarpanch was aimed at disrupting “the people-centric welfare programmes and schemes”, according to the spokesman.

“The Lt. governor observed that the ongoing programme is meant to empower people at the grassroots and assured that it shall be taken to its logical end,” the spokesman said.

Murmu said special focus was being given to the completion of 2,500 pending projects, according to the spokesman.

The LG had skipped a visit to Kashmir when it faced a crisis following unseasonal snowfall on November 7, prompting detractors to claim that he had failed his first test in office.