Srinagar: Administration spruces up roads, pedestrian-walkways ahead of 'Darbar Move'
This summer capital of Jammu-and-kashmir'>Jammu and Kashmir has been given a facelift ahead of "Darbar Move", the 140-year-old practice of bi-annual shifting of the state capital between Jammu and Srinagar. As the Civil Secretariat and other offices that shift between the two capitals open in Srinagar tomorrow, the administration is busy sprucing up the roads and pedestrian walkways with repair and paint works.
Srinagar's potholed roads are being repaired and painted
The potholed roads of Srinagar are being repaired and a fresh coat of paint put on the elevated footpath ahead of the arrival of the government headed by Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti to this summer capital. Besides the beautification works, the concerned departments have engaged a large number of laborers to remove the dust and filth on the sides of the city roads.
Official residences of ministers also being renovated
Apart from repairs on the roads, the official residences of ministers and top bureaucrats are also being renovated. In an effort to ensure that the employees don't face any problems during their six-month stay in Kashmir, several steps have been taken by the divisional administration.
Maharaja Gulab Singh in 1872 started Darbar Move
The practice of "Darbar Move", under which the state government functions in Jammu during six winter months and in Srinagar during summer, was started by Maharaja Gulab Singh in 1872 to escape extreme weather conditions in the two regions of the state. However, the practice was continued even after Independence with the aim of providing governance benefits to both Kashmir and Jammu regions.
Both cities get basic minimum repair done on annual basis
While Jammu and Srinagar benefit from this practice as the roads and other infrastructure get the basic minimum repairs done on annual basis, Darbar Move incurs an expenditure of crores-of-rupees that could have been used for other productive activities. The practice involves moving voluminous files between Jammu and Srinagar and thousands of employees between the two cities in hundreds of buses and trucks.
Employees get two weeks of free holidays during Darbar Move
The employees, who work in the Move offices, get two weeks of free holidays and compensatory allowances twice every year. "This severely affects the common people as their works get stuck in this practice. Officially, the offices close for two weeks per year but the packing, shifting, and unpacking of documents consume six weeks," Abdul Rehman, a retired government employee, said.
Several political parties including BJP demanded scrapping of Darbar Move
Several political parties have in the past demanded scrapping of the practice and instead establishing permanent offices both at Jammu and Srinagar. Even the BJP, the coalition partner in Jammu and Kashmir government with the PDP, called for abandoning the Darbar Move practice last year.
