Civil Secretariat reopens in Srinagar

The Civil Secretariat, seat of the Jammu and Kashmir government, started functioning from the summer capital of Srinagar on Monday, as part of a nearly 150-year-old biannual practice known as the Darbar Move. Lt Governor Girish Chander Murmu inspected the ceremonial guard of honour at the civil secretariat lawns here in the morning as offices opened here after closing in Jammu in the last week of April.

Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, employees from Jammu region will be working from their homes, while only a limited number of employees will be attending office in Srinagar. Although the Union territory is under a lockdown since the third week of March, the local administration had spruced up the city to welcome the Lt Governor's administration to Srinagar.

The lane markers on the city roads were given a fresh coat of paint, while the dust and mud accumulated for the past several months had been removed. The Civil Secretariat and other Darbar Move offices function in Srinagar for six months of summer and in Jammu, for the remaining six months of the year.

The practice was started by Maharaja Gulab Singh 148 years ago to escape the extreme heat of Jammu during summers and biting cold of winters in Srinagar. However, the practice has been continued by elected governments post-Independence in order to provide access to the people of both regions by turns to the seat of power in the state.

The state government spends crores of rupees to shift voluminous records between the two capital cities twice a year, besides paying a similar amount as 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 so that people can get redressal to their problems round the year while saving substantial amount of the public exchequer.