Darbar Move was the name given to the bi-annual shift of the secretariat and all other government offices of
Jammu and Kashmir from one capital city to another. From May to October, governmental offices were housed in the summer capital,
Srinagar, and the other six months in its winter capital,
Jammu
Jammu is the winter capital of the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. It is the headquarters and the largest city in Jammu district of the union territory. Lying on the banks of the river Tawi, the city of Jammu, with an area of ...
. The tradition was started during the rule of
Maharaja Ranbir Singh
Mahārāja (; also spelled Maharajah, Maharaj) is a Sanskrit title for a "great ruler", "great king" or " high king".
A few ruled states informally called empires, including ruler raja Sri Gupta, founder of the ancient Indian Gupta Empire, a ...
in 1872.
The tradition was continued even after 1952 by State Government of Jammu and Kashmir, as it acted a major bridge space for interaction between the linguistics and diverse cultural groups of Jammu and Kashmir.
In April 2021, for the first time in history
Government of Jammu and Kashmir decided to defer the Darbar Move due to
COVID-19 pandemic in India
The COVID-19 pandemic in India is a part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). As of , according to Indian government figures, India has the second-highest n ...
.
On 30 June 2021, the 149 years old biannual tradition of shifting capital between Jammu and Srinagar came to an end when the Government led by Lieutenant Governor
Manoj Sinha
Manoj Sinha (born 1 July 1959) is an Indian politician serving as the 2nd and the current Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir. He served as the Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Communications and Minister of State for Railway ...
cancelled the practice and served a notice to the employees working in the civil secretariat to vacate darbar move related accommodation in three weeks. Regarding the discontinuation of the move, on 30 March 2020, former chief secretary
B. V. R Subramanyam said that government had taken concrete steps to switch paperless office by rolling out e_office in the moving departments. The administration has uploaded official records to the e_office. The switch to the online mode will avoid wear and tear as well as loss of official records during the biannual transit, besides saving the associated transportation costs. Government offices will now function at both Jammu and Srinagar.
This productive and efficient move will save money, resources and time, that could be utilised towards the welfare and development of the union territory. These resources can be utilised for the protection and propagation of the culture and heritage of the communities.
References
{{India-gov-stub
Government of Jammu and Kashmir