Civil Secretariat to open in Jammu today

In Jammu and Kashmir, the Civil Secretariat, the seat of J&K administration, will open in Jammu today after functioning in summer capital Srinagar for six months as part of the nearly 150 year old practice known as 'Darbar Move'.

 

Adequate arrangements, especially those related to security, have been put in place to ensure smooth functioning of the Civil Secretariat and other move offices including the Raj Bhavan and police headquarters in Jammu. 

The COVID-19 pandemic delayed the Darbar Move from Jammu to Srinagar this summer. The Civil Secretariat and other move offices, which observe five day week, closed in Srinagar on October 30, while the offices observing six day week closed the next day. All the offices are reopening in Jammu today. The winter



capital Jammu has been given a facelift ahead of the Darbar Move with administration sprucing up the roads and pedestrian walkways with repair and paint works.

 

Besides, several roads in the city have been macadamized, potholes being repaired and a fresh coat of paint put on the footpath. The practice of ''Darbar Move'' under which the J&K administration functions in Jammu during six months of winter and in Srinagar during summer was started by Maharaja Gulab Singh in 1872 to escape extreme weather conditions in the two regions of the erstwhile state.

 

However, the practice was continued even after Independence with the aim of providing governance benefits to both Kashmir and Jammu regions for six months by turns.