(MENAFN- Live Mint) Jammu and Kashmir government issued orders on Thursday for the closure of the 'Darbar Move' offices in the summer capital of Srinagar on 31 October, hours after Chief Minister Omar Abdullah announced therestoration of the tradition.

The Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha-led administration had scrapped the Darbar Move tradition in 2021 to save costs and promote digitisation.

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"Today, I have personally signed the official file, and I hope that the order will be issued soon. We are restoring the old tradition of the Darbar Move," Abdullah told reporters on Thursday afternoon.

Why has the Darbar Move been restored?

"We promised people that we would restore the Darbar Move. The Cabinet has taken a decision regarding its restoration and sent it to the Lieutenant Governor. The L-G has signed and returned the file," he said earlier in the day.

On Thursday night, Commissioner Secretary of the General Administration Department, M Raju, issued the formal order for the restoration of the Darbar Move.

"The offices, in this order, shall move to Jammu 'in full' and 'in camp', respectively, from the winter season 2025–26. The offices observing a five-day week shall close at Srinagar on October 31 after office hours, and the offices observing a six-day week shall close on November 1 after office hours," the order said

The offices moving 'in camp' shall carry only 33 per cent of the staff strength in that particular office, or 10 officials, whichever is minimum, or as otherwise specifically indicated.

While 39 offices, departments, and organisations, including the Chief Minister's Secretariat, will move in full strength, 47 others will move in camp, it said.

What is Darbar Move?

'Darbar Move ' is a bi-annual practice in which the government functions for six months in the two capitals – Srinagar and Jammu.

The exercise involves shifting the government from Srinagar to Jammu during the winter months - October to May - and back to Srinagar in the summer, along with thousands of officials, workers, heaps of files and other logistics in hundreds of buses and trucks along the treacherous, and sometimes hazardous, Jammu-Srinagar highway.

The 'Darbar Move' traces its origins to 1872 under Maharaja Ranbir Singh, the Dogra ruler who began transferring the royal court between Srinagar and Jammu to escape the extreme weather in both regions. Under this system, government offices functioned from Srinagar during the summer months and shifted to Jammu in the winter.

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Jammu, unlike Kashmir, doesn't face harsh winters.

The exercise involved the relocation of nearly 10,000 employees, along with their records, computers, and furniture, with dozens of trucks carrying files and equipment across the Jammu–Srinagar highway twice a year.

Save ₹200 Cr a year

"Why was the Darbar Move stopped? It had been a long-standing tradition. Those who used to accuse us of not understanding the history of Jammu and Kashmir before 1947, and of not respecting the great personalities of the region - let it be known that no one has damaged their legacy more than the BJP," Abdullah said.

The 149-year-old tradition was ended by Jammu and Kashmir's Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha - led administration in 2021. On June 20, 2021, the L-G administration completed the transition to e-office, thereby ending the practice of the biannual 'Darbar Move'.

“Now both the Jammu and Srinagar secretariats can function normally for 12 months. This will save the government ₹200 crore per year, which will be used for the welfare of the deprived sections,” the LG said then.

The cancellation of the 'Darbar Move' practice had annoyed a certain section of traders in Jammu, as it resulted in losses to them. Opposition parties and traders had been strongly advocating for the restoration of the Darbar Move for years.

Omar's 'sudden and last-minute' road trip in 2024

The National Conference (NC) had promised the resumption of 'Darbar Move' in the run-up to the assembly elections.

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Last year, on 11 November, Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, Omar Abdullah, undertook a 'sudden and last-minute ' road trip from Srinagar to Jammu, after his flight was cancelled due to poor visibility. In Jammu, Abdullah resumed office from the Civil Secretariat, as part of the symbolic resumption of the annual practice of shifting the administrative base to the Union Territory's winter capital - Jammu.

This was Abdullah's first visit to the civil secretariat in Jammu as the chief minister since assuming office on October 16, 2024.

Today, I have personally signed the official file, and I hope that the order will be issued soon. We are restoring the old tradition of the Darbar Move.

The deputy chief minister, cabinet ministers, chief secretary, administrative secretaries, and heads of departments also resumed their work from Jammu, 300 km from Srinagar.

(With agency inputs)

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