JK: Darbar opens in Srinagar on May 7

Srinagar, May 6: The Civil Secretariat and related government offices would reopen here tomorrow for the biannual 'Darbar Move', after functioning in the winter capital of Jammu and Kashmir for the past six months.

The offices had closed in Jammu on April 7 and would now function here for the next six months.

The 'Darbar Move' practice between the two state capitals -- Srinagar for six summer months and Jammu for six winter months -- had started in 1872 during Maharaja Ranbir Singh's rule.

The Civil Secretariat, which houses the offices of the Chief Minister, his Cabinet colleagues and other top bureaucrats, is the nerve centre of official activities. Nearly 10,000 government officials and employees will move here for the next six months.

The 'Darbar Move' practice has turned out to be a costly affair.

Every six months, the state government incurs several hundred crores of rupees in shifting the offices between the two capitals.

The state exchequer suffers heavy loss for maintaining the traditional system of shifting the government and other offices from Jammu to Srinagar and vice versa.

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad will take guard of honour of a contingent of the state police and then address the employees before starting his daily work from his office at the Civil Secretariat here.

The city has been given a facelift for the 'Darbar Move'.

UNI