Durbar Move offices close in Jammu, to reopen in Srinagar on May 6

Govt establishes summer secretariat in winter capital

Jammu: Amidst tight security arrangements, the offices observing five days week closed here on Friday as the J&K civil secretariat, the highest seat of the government, moved to Kashmir. The offices observing 6 days week would close on Saturday.

The practice of ‘Durbar Move’ was started by the then Maharaja of the State, Gulab Singh in 1872 to escape the scorching heat during summers in Jammu and biting cold of winters in Srinagar. The practice has been continuing since then, but this year, in order to provide governance benefits to the people of Jammu in summers, the General Administration Department has established a summer secretariat here.

As per an order, the summer secretariat shall operate from second floor of civil secretariat, Jammu and will be headed by Rohit Khajuria, Special Secretary to the government.

“The new meeting hall of the third floor, civil secretariat, Jammu shall also be kept operational along with internet and VC facility for meetings to be conveyed by the Advisors, Chief Secretary and the Administrative Secretaries,” the order said.

The summer secretariat shall start functioning here from April 29 after the closure of offices at Jammu. The order said that one officer of level of Special Secretary, one each of Deputy Secretary, Under Secretary, two senior scale stenographer/junior scale stenographer, three senior assistants/junior assistants and three orderlies, shall work at the summer secretariat.

The officers who have been posted in the summer secretariat other than Rohit Khajuria, Special Secretary to the government, Revenue Department are Preeti Sharma, Deputy Secretary to government, Technical Education Department; Rita Koul, Under Secretary to the government, Power Development Department; Harvinder Singh, Private Secretary, Hospitality and Protocol department; Ghulam Qadir, Section Officer, department of Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs and others. The move offices would reopen in Srinagar on 6 May, 2019.