The Jammu and Kashmir government on Thursday issued orders for the closure of the Darbar Move offices in the summer capital Srinagar on October 31, hours after Chief Minister Omar Abdullah announced restoration of the tradition.
The Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha-led administration had scrapped the Darbar Move tradition in 2021.
While marking one year of his government in Jammu and Kashmir, Abdullah told reporters, "Today, I have personally signed the official file, and I hope that the order will be issued soon. We are restoring the old tradition of the Darbar Move."
"We promised people that we would restore the Darbar Move. The cabinet has taken a decision regarding its restoration and sent it to the lieutenant governor. The L-G has signed and returned the file," he said earlier in the day.
On Thursday night, General Administration Department Commissioner Secretary M Raju issued the formal order for the restoration of the Darbar Move.
"The offices, in this order, shall move to Jammu 'in full' and 'in camp', respectively, from the winter season 2025-26. The offices observing a five-day week shall close at Srinagar on October 31 after office hours, and the offices observing a six-day week shall close on November 1 after office hours," the order stated.
According to the order, all offices shall reopen at Jammu, the winter capital, on November 3.
The offices moving 'in camp' shall carry only 33 per cent of the staff strength in that particular office, or 10 officials, whichever is minimum, or as otherwise specifically indicated.
While 39 offices, departments, and organisations, including the Chief Minister's Secretariat, will move in full strength, 47 others will move in camp, it said.
The Darbar Move traces its origins to 1872 under Maharaja Ranbir Singh, the Dogra ruler who began transferring the royal court between Srinagar and Jammu to escape the extreme weather in both regions. Under this system, government offices functioned from Srinagar during the summer months and shifted to Jammu in the winter.
The exercise involved the movement of nearly 10,000 employees, along with records, computers, and furniture, with dozens of trucks carrying files and equipment across the Jammu-Srinagar highway twice a year.
Taking a dig at the BJP, Abdullah said, "Why was the Darbar Move stopped? It had been a long-standing tradition. Those who used to accuse us of not understanding the history of Jammu and Kashmir before 1947, and of not respecting the great personalities of the region -- let it be known that no one has damaged their legacy more than the BJP."
Opposition parties and traders had been strongly advocating for the restoration of the Darbar Move for years.
While officials often cited weather conditions and employee convenience as reasons for continuing the tradition, critics called it cumbersome and costly, draining nearly Rs 200 crore annually from the exchequer.
The Sinha administration had argued in 2021 that the money saved by ending the practice could be better utilised for public services and that the digitisation of records had made the physical move unnecessary.
Abdullah had declared in December 2023 that if his National Conference returned to power, it would restore the Darbar Move -- a promise now fulfilled.