Jammu, Nov 3 (IANS) The ‘Darbar Move’ offices re-opened here on Monday after four years as 86 top offices of the Jammu and Kashmir government started functioning from the winter capital Jammu.

Chief Minister Omar Abdullah reached the civil secretariat from his official residence in the Wazarat Road area of the city as people greeted him with flowers and jubilation on the resumption of the over 150-year-old practice of shuttling the civil secretariat between Srinagar and Jammu on a six-monthly basis.

The royal tradition was started by the Dogra Maharajas of Jammu and Kashmir, who would move their seat of governance between Jammu and Srinagar due to climatic considerations.

As the Valley got cold by the end of October each year, the ‘Darbar’ (Royal Court) would move to the warmer weather in Jammu, and as Jammu’s weather got hot by the end of April, the royal court would move back to the sanguine climate of Srinagar.

The practice continued after Independence in 1947, and in this practice, J&K thus had two capitals — the winter Jammu and the summer Kashmir. The creation of the twin capitals of Jammu and Srinagar also came to be seen as regional equality between the two regions.

The practice was stopped by the Lt Governor in 2021 as digitalisation of official records and use of e-governance made shifting of truckloads of files and records between Srinagar and Jammu cumbersome and unnecessary.

Traders and other businessmen have welcomed the decision taken by the Omar Abdullah-led government in J&K. Omar Abdullah had said that the restoration of the Darbar Move was his Diwali gift to the people of Jammu.

The chief minister was given a ceremonial guard of honour at the civil secretariat here, but the traditional press conference held each time the offices re-opened in Jammu was called off because of the model code of conduct (MCC) in the Nagrota Assembly constituency, where a bypoll is scheduled on November 11.

–IANS

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