No Darbar Move at least for now: GAD issues routine order

‘Only Admn Secys, UT level HoDs will shift’
NC, Cong promised restoration of practice

JAMMU, Oct 24: There will be no Darbar Move at least for this winter as the General Administration Department (GAD) today came out with an order stating that only the Administrative Secretaries and Union Territory level Heads of Departments (HoDs) will shift to Jammu from Srinagar from November 11 and will attend Civil Secretariat Srinagar as per the requirement.

Ruling National Conference and its Alliance partner Congress, both have promised resumption of years-old Darbar Move practice in their election manifestoes. Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Choudhary after taking oath had also said that end of Darbar Move practice has affected Jammu’s economy and hit the businesses.

As per the bi-annual Darbar Move practice which was going on since Maharaja’s time, the Civil Secretariat, the seat of the Government, used to shift every six months i.e. it used to be in Srinagar in summer from May to October and in Jammu from November to April. Jammu was called the winter capital and Srinagar the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir.

There were indications that National Conference Government could take a call on Darbar Move practice which was stopped in April 2020 at the time of COVID. Since then, the Jammu-based employees of the Civil Secretariat have been functioning from Jammu while Kashmir-based staff is operating from Srinagar throughout the year. Only Administrative Secretaries and some other senior officers shift from Jammu to Srinagar and vice versa but they too keep on rotating as per the requirement to ensure that services to the people in the Secretariat are available every time.

As per the sources, the Government decision to call first Legislative Assembly session on November 4 in Srinagar also dropped enough hints on functioning of the Civil Secretariat.

“It was being anticipated that if the Assembly session is summoned in October it will be held in Srinagar but if the session is called in November it may be held in Jammu,” the sources said but added that nearly 1-day long session has been called in Srinagar in the month of November.

Ruling National Conference in its manifesto stated, “We pledge to enhance the unity of our State by reinstating the full Darbar Move”.

The Congress manifesto said, “The Congress will restore 149-year-old tradition of Darbar Move, the bi-annual shift of the Civil Secretariat and its offices”.

Besides the National Conference and Congress, various other organizations in Jammu have also been demanding resumption of years-old Darbar Move practice on the ground that an end to the shifting of offices bi-annually has hit economy of Jammu especially the City where traders, hoteliers and other businesses were beneficiaries.

The Government order has, however, delivered a setback to the traders, at least for the time being as they had pinned hopes of resumption of Darbar Move practice.

The GAD order issued today by Commissioner/Secretary Sanjeev Verma today said, “The Administrative Secretaries and Union Territory level Heads of Departments shall ensure their availability at Civil Secretariat Jammu with effect from November 11. However, they will attend the Civil Secretariat, Srinagar as per functional requirement”.

Further, the order read, it has been directed that the arrangements with regard to availability of staff of Administrative Departments of Civil Secretariat shall be determined by the respective Departments.

Additionally, the GAD order said, it has been ordered that the Estates Department, upon requisition by the concerned Administrative Departments shall provide accommodation to the officers/officials, as per the requirement.