Darbar move: offices to close on Oct 27, reopen on Nov 7

Srinagar, Oct 8: As part of the pre-independence biannual darbar move, Civil Secretariat, the seat of Jammu and Kashmir government, will close here on October 27 and reopen in winter capital Jammu on November 7.

According to an order issued by General Administration Department (GAD) here, the government offices observing five-day week shall close here on October 27, and the offices observing six-day week shall close on October 29.

"These offices will reopen at Jammu on November 7. All the departments shall ensure that records are packed in boxes after working hours on last working day," an official spokesman said.

He said it has been ordered that the offices moving in camp shall carry only 33 per cent of the strength of staff in that particular office or with 10 officials whichever is minimum.

"All departments have been asked to send their advance parties on October 24, consisting of one gazetted Officer and four to five non-gazetted employees who will receive the records at Jammu," he said.

State Road Transport Corporation has been asked to make available sufficient number of buses in good condition for transportation of Jammu-based employees on October 28 and 29 and Kashmir-based employees on November 5 and 6.

"SRTC will also make available trucks for shifting the records from Srinagar to Jammu. The loaded trucks shall leave for Jammu on October 30 in a convoy," he said.

The SRTC will also ensure that one crane, two empty buses and two empty trucks shall accompany the convoy on the respective days so that the employees do not face any inconvenience due to any breakdown of vehicles on the way.

"Special Move" travel allowance shall be paid at the uniform rate of Rs 15,000 per employee, the spokesman said. Darbar Move is a century-old practice started by then Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir who used to shift his capital between Srinagar (Summer) and Jammu (winter) to escape extreme weather conditions in these places.

PTI