Darbar Move Jammu Kashmir: The 149-year-old Darbar Move tradition in Jammu and Kashmir is set to resume after three years. The Indian Express report quoted official sources as saying that administrative secretaries and heads of departments have been asked to ensure their presence at the Civil Secretariat in Jammu from November 11.

This tradition started in 1872 during the rule of Maharaja Ranbir Singh.

The Darbar Move is a biennial process in which the state secretariat and other government offices are shifted from the summer capital Srinagar to the winter capital Jammu. The tradition began in 1872 under the rule of Maharaja Ranbir Singh and continued till 2021. At that time, the UT administration had said that the state secretariats would be maintained at both places.

Order issued on 23 October

In an order issued on October 23, General Administration Department Commissioner/Secretary Sanjeev Verma said that "in order to conduct government work effectively and efficiently", it has been ordered that the administrative secretaries and heads of UT-level departments ensure their presence at the Civil Secretariat in Jammu.

What is in the order

The order states that these officers will also be present at the Civil Secretariat in Srinagar "as per functional requirement", i.e. when needed. It also asks the estate department to provide accommodation to government officers/employees on request by their administrative departments.

It was decided to establish secretariats at both the places

A senior government official said that this is nothing new and the UT administration has taken this step to ensure the availability of administration at the doorstep of the people. He referred to the 2021 order in which the Darbar Move was abolished and it was decided to set up secretariats at both the places.

The Darbar Move was earlier suspended in 2020 due to the pandemic.

However, sources say that the physical office files and the staff who maintain them will not go. However, this will not impact the functioning of the government as official records have already been digitized. The Darbar Move was earlier suspended in 2020 due to the pandemic. On June 20, 2021, Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha announced that the biennial secretariat transfer had been abolished.

Engineer Rashid made a demand.

Baramulla MP Sheikh Abdul Rashid on Friday protested here demanding the restoration of the tradition of shifting the capital in Jammu and Kashmir. Rashid, the head of the Awami Ittehad Party (AIP), protested with his party workers near the Civil Secretariat - the headquarters of the Jammu and Kashmir government. The AIP chief, popularly known as Engineer Rashid, said that this tradition was followed every year in Jammu and Kashmir, "but for the last few years our capital is neither Srinagar nor Jammu."

..or Srinagar should be made the permanent capital

He said, 'Today, through this protest, we want to remind (Chief Minister) Omar Abdullah that he had promised that the tradition of shifting the capital will be restored as soon as the government is formed.' The Lok Sabha member said that our only demand is that people should be told which city is the capital of Jammu and Kashmir. He said, 'Our people do not know whether they have to go to Srinagar or Jammu. There is no solution to the problems of the people, people do not know whether their file is in Jammu or Srinagar.' The AIP chief said that either the tradition of shifting the court should be restored or Srinagar should be made the permanent capital.