Srinagar- Chief Minister Omar Abdullah started working from the Civil Secretariat here on Monday, as part of an annual practice of shifting the administrative base to the winter capital.
The deputy chief minister, cabinet ministers, chief secretary, administrative secretaries, and heads of departments also resumed their work from Jammu, officials said.
According to a General Administration Department order dated October 23, only the administrative secretaries and the top department heads will shift to Jammu from Srinagar under a curtailed Darbar move.
The Civil Secretariat in Srinagar will also remain functional, as the order stated.
The annual move, a long-standing tradition in Jammu and Kashmir, was halted during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The practice involved shifting the government from Srinagar to Jammu from October to May due to harsh cold conditions in the valley.
The General Administration Department (GAD) on October 23 issued an order stating that only the administrative secretaries and UT-level heads of departments (HoDs) would shift to Jammu from Srinagar from November 11 and would attend the Civil Secretariat in Srinagar as needed, officially ending the Durbar Move.
The GAD order issued by Commissioner-Secretary Sanjeev Verma said, “The Administrative Secretaries and Union Territory level Heads of Departments shall ensure their availability at the Civil Secretariat, Jammu, with effect from November 11. However, they will attend the Civil Secretariat, Srinagar as per functional requirements.”
The biannual Durbar Move was a practice which involved shifting the government from Srinagar to Jammu during the winter months — from October to May — and back to Srinagar along with hundreds of officials, thousands of files and equipment in hundreds of buses and trucks.
On June 20, 2021, Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha had announced that the J&K administration has completely transitioned to e-office, thereby ending the practice of the biannual Durbar Move.
“Now both the Jammu and Srinagar secretariats can function normally for 12 months. This will save the government Rs 200 crore per year, which will be used for the welfare of the deprived sections”, the LG had said.
Since then, employees based in Jammu have worked there year-round, with the same arrangement applying to those in Srinagar. Only administrative secretaries and UT-level HODs continue to rotate between the two cities as needed to ensure that the services remain available at all times.
Notably, the Darbar Move, a 149-year-old practice abolished following the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization Act of 2019, was widely criticized for its cancellation, especially by major political parties including the National Conference (NC), the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), and the Congress.
They argued that the shift’s discontinuation was harmful to the region’s cultural and economic diversity. Instituted by Maharaja Ranbir Singh in 1872, the Darbar Move originally aimed to facilitate governance in both Srinagar and Jammu, capitalizing on each city’s favorable weather during summer and winter, respectively.
The practice previously brought significant economic benefits to Jammu’s local business community each winter. Following recent administrative actions cancelling official housing allotments in both Srinagar and Jammu, many believed the Darbar Move had been permanently terminated.
However, as the Omar led government reoccupies the Jammu Secretariat, it is possible that this annual migration could be reinstated in some form.
Chief Minister Abdullah’s travel to Jammu was delayed by foggy weather, forcing him to take the journey by road after flights were cancelled.
Omar shared videos from his journey, underscoring the logistical challenges faced by winter travel to Jammu.
Security and traffic management have been enhanced around the Secretariat, where a surge in activity is expected as ministers and officials resume work.
In the coming days, Omar is set to convene meetings to review development projects and coordinate efforts with various departments, re-establishing winter administration in Jammu
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