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| Govt to delay opening of offices in Srinagar on June 15 | | Darbar Move fiasco: | | Early Times Report
Jammu, May 23: The Jammu and Kashmir government is likely to delay the shifting of government offices from Jammu to Srinagar, a process that was all set to take place on June 15, this year.
As per the government sources, the administration is mulling to keep the offices functional in Jammu beyond June 15 and extension of Darbar move will be announced by the authorities in near future.
On April 17, this year, the government ordered the annual ''Darbar Move'' in the summer capital Srinagar on June 15 as opposed to its scheduled opening in the first week of May due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Now, when less than a month is left for the scheduled date to arrive, the government is considering the option of keeping the offices stationed in Jammu only beyond June 15. As per the sources, the formal opening of the darbar at Srinagar will not place on June 15 and it could get extended to few more months.
The 'Darbar Move' was started in 1872 by Maharaja Gulab Singh to escape the extreme heat during summers in Jammu and biting cold of winters in Srinagar. The practice was continued by elected governments post-Independence.
More than 148 years later such a practice has been stopped and it is termed widely as a welcome measure. It will save peoples money and expose them to lesser hardships while getting the grievances addressed at the power corridors,” says a Jammu based Civil Secretariat official.
The erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir was the only region in the country that had two capitals, Srinagar and Jammu. Every year, in May and October-November, the capital and secretariat shift from one capital city to the other city to escape the extreme weather conditions in the two regions.
The summer capital opens in Srinagar in May and the winter in Jammu in October. The relocation of capital and secretariat from Jammu to Srinagar is called the Darbar Move.Dogra ruler Maharaja Ranbir Singh had started the practice of Darbar Move in 1872.
There was also a mounting criticism against this old practice with people terming it nothing less than a parasite on state exchequer as it drains hundreds of crores of public money every year. The erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir was the only region in the country that had two capitals, Srinagar and Jammu. Every year, in May and October-November, the capital and secretariat shift from one capital city to the other city to escape the extreme weather conditions in the two regions. The department of estates alone used to spent more than 125 crores on providing logistics and accommodation to the move employees. All the money had to be borne by a comman tax payer of the erwthwile state of Jammu and Kashmir. Furthermore, more than 90 crores were being paid on account of paying allowances to Move employees. |
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