Darbar Move: CM Omar Abdullah Walks to Secretariat as J&K Government Begins Winter Session in Jammu
Traders, residents welcome revival of 150-year-old tradition halted in 2021
JAMMU, Nov 3: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Monday walked from his official residence to the Civil Secretariat in Jammu, marking the official revival of the biannual Darbar Move tradition after a gap of four years.
As Abdullah made his way through Residency Road and Raghunath Bazar, traders and local residents lined the streets to welcome him. Various associations, including the Jammu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI), hailed his decision to restore the age old practice, which was halted in 2021.
The Darbar Move, a legacy of the Dogra rulers dating back nearly 150 years, involves the shifting of the J&K government’s offices between Srinagar and Jammu with the changing seasons. The Civil Secretariat and other move offices, which closed in Srinagar on October 30 and 31, began functioning from Jammu on Monday for the next six months.
The tradition was discontinued by then Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha in June 2021, citing cost saving and digital governance under the e-office system. The move, however, drew criticism from various sections, particularly Jammu’s business community, which argued that ending the Darbar Move weakened economic and cultural ties between the two regions.
On October 16, fulfilling one of his key election promises, Omar Abdullah announced the return of the Darbar Move, calling it a step toward restoring regional balance and tradition.
Abdullah, accompanied by Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Choudhary and Minister Javed Rana, left his residence at around 9 a.m. and walked several kilometres to the Secretariat amid cheers, drumbeats, and flower showers.
Members of the business community expressed their gratitude, with JCCI President Arun Gupta among the first to greet the chief minister. Security personnel had to manage large, enthusiastic crowds gathered along the route as Abdullah resumed the century-old practice that symbolizes administrative unity across the Union Territory.
