Srinagar: A week after assuming office as Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah on Friday faced his first public protest when Member of Parliament Abdul Rashid Sheikh, aka Engineer Rashid, took to the streets in Srinagar, demanding the revival of the Darbar Move, the practice of shifting government offices between Srinagar and Jammu capitals twice in a year.
In 2020, Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha partially closed the practice, saying that it incurred more than Rs 200 crore loss to the state exchequer when government employees, files, and logistics were transported between the two capitals.
Engineer Rashid and his workers of the Awami Itehad Party (AIP) took out a protest march to the Civil Secretariat, where the chief minister and his cabinet ministers work.
“We are reminding Omar Abdullah Sahib that he had promised that he would revive the tradition of Darbar Move soon after the government formation. We are demanding that people should be told which is the capital of Jammu and Kashmir—Jammu or Srinagar. Our people have no idea whether they have to go to Srinagar or Jammu. People are confused whether their files are in Srinagar or Jammu," Rashid said.
“Darbar Move must be restored or Srinagar must be made the permanent capital of Jammu and Kashmir,” he said.
In response to the AIP protest, NC Chief Spokesperson and MLA Zadibal Tanvir Sadiq posted on X, saying, “The National Conference, as stated in our manifesto, is committed to restoring the Darbar Move, a tradition that stands for the unity and seamless governance of Jammu and Kashmir.”
“The Omar Abdullah-led government is dedicated to bringing it back. Only we have the will and ability to do it, while those who till yesterday sought to divide Kashmir’s mandate have now suddenly become self-righteous,” he wrote and adds sarcastically, “From Raishumari to Darbar Move—see what Tihar has done!”
The National Conference government has promised in its manifesto that it will restore the practice of the Darbar Move. However, after assuming office, Omar and his cabinet ministers have said they will restore it, but the General Administrative Department (GAD) on October 24 issued an order in which it directed the administrative secretaries to resume offices in Jammu, the winter capital.
"For effective and efficient conduct of official business at Civil Secretariat in Jammu, it is hereby ordered that the Administrative Secretaries and Union territory level Heads of Departments shall ensure their availability at the Civil Secretariat, Jammu w.e.f. November 11, 2024 (Monday)," the order said.
"However, they will attend the Civil Secretariat, Srinagar, as per functional requirement. The arrangements for the availability of staff of administrative departments of the civil secretariat shall be determined by the respective departments. The Estates Department, upon requisition by the concerned Administrative Departments, shall provide accommodation to the officers/officials, as per requirement," it said.
Darbar Move has always been a touchy commercial issue in Jammu. Since its end, the traders and political parties in Jammu district have been pressing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led government at the Centre and LG Sinha for its revival.
Traders in Jammu are saying that since the practice was abandoned by the LG administration, it has incurred huge losses to their business as fewer number of people from Kashmir are travelling to Jammu during winter when the valley faces harsh winter and snowfall.
Many believe that the Darbar Move revival will be difficult for the Omar Abdullah government as his powers to make vital administrative decisions remain with the LG as per the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act 2019. The Act has empowered LG more than the chief minister of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
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