#DarbarMove: Jammu & Kashmir Secretariat to start functioning from Monday
All necessary security arrangements have been put in place as the Civil Secretariat, the seat of the Jammu-and-kashmir'>Jammu and Kashmir government, will reopen in Jammu on Monday after a 10-day break owing to the bi-annual 'Darbar Move'. The Civil Secretariat, Raj Bhavan, and other Darbar Move offices were closed in Srinagar on October 26 after six months functioning there. Read more.
Darbar move: Who started it and why?
The 'Darbar Move' was started by the then Maharaja Gulab Singh in 1872 to escape the extreme heat during summers in Jammu and manage smooth working in the biting cold of winters in Srinagar. The practice was continued by the elected governments post-independence to provide governance benefits, by turns, to both Kashmir and Jammu regions for six months.
Security arrangements have been made in and around Civil Secretariat
In the aftermath of the killing of a senior BJP leader and his brother by suspected militants in Kishtwar district on Thursday night, the security situation was reviewed afresh across the Jammu region in view of the Darbar Move, the officials said. Additional policemen have been deployed in and around vital installations and thoroughfares, including the Civil Secretariat, they said.
Preparation going on in Jammu to welcome the government
Like yesteryears, the city of temples this time was also given a facelift to welcome the government. Wall paintings have come up at various places in the city, while the Secretariat along with other offices and quarters has been renovated. The city also witnessed flower decor on bridges and various designated places and repair of defunct lights on flyovers and roads.
Know how the city is beautifying its infrastructure
Besides the wall-paintings, many works like repair and blacktopping of roads, marking of yellow, white lines on the signals, plantation on dividers, cutting of ornamental plants on dividers to enhance the beauty and branch cutting alongside the roads was undertaken over the past several weeks.
The government bears a lot of expenses while shifting
The state government spends crores of rupees every year to shift voluminous records between the two capital cities twice a year, besides paying a similar amount as an allowance for the several thousand employees who shift base with the government. There have been demands from various quarters to abolish the practice and set up permanent civil secretariats in Jammu and Srinagar cities to avoid shifting-issues.
