Srinagar: The Jammu and Kashmir government is shifting base to summer capital Srinagar as part of the biannual ‘darbar move’, and the civil secretariat, other move offices and the Raj Bhavan will start functioning here from May 10, officials said on Wednesday.
The practice of ‘darbar move’ — under which the administration functions in Jammu during six months of winter and in Srinagar during summer — was started by Maharaja Gulab Singh in 1872 to escape extreme weather conditions in the two regions.
“The move offices observing five-day week and six-day week will close in winter capital Jammu on April 30 and May 1 respectively. All the offices will reopen in Srinagar on May 10,” an official spokesperson said.
Chief Secretary B V R Subrahmanyam, who chaired a high-level meeting to review the preparations for the move in Jammu, said there would be a substantial reduction in the transportation of records during the exercise.
“The government has taken concrete steps to switch to paperless offices by rolling out e-office in the moving departments. As such, most of the official record has been uploaded to the e-office, and training of employees has begun,” he said.
He said the switch to online mode would help avoid wear and tear as well as any loss of official record during the bi-annual transit, besides saving the associated transportation costs.
The meeting reviewed the arrangements being made to transport employees and limited records on May 01 and 02 and May 08 and 09.
“The security/escort plan, availability of trucks and buses, recovery vans, mobile workshops, health facilities, and ambulances along the highway were discussed threadbare,” the spokesman said.
The Chief Secretary directed the Traffic department to ensure a hassle-free movement of the convoy from Jammu to Srinagar.
The spokesperson said a mini-secretariat would be kept functional in Jammu during the summer season for safekeeping of official records, and accordingly, the Estates department was directed to ensure availability of adequate accommodation and facilities at the Civil Secretariat here, Jammu.
The Food, Civil Supplies & Consumer Affairs Department was asked to distribute temporary ration cards to the move-employees through a special week-long camp.
The Chief Secretary also directed the Estates, Jal Shakti, and Power departments, and Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) to inspect residential colonies of the move-employees and ensure complete sanitation, availability of electricity, potable drinking water, and other basic facilities therein.
He asked Estates Departments to set up additional convenience facilities at the Civil Secretariat Srinagar for employees, besides ensuring adequate drinking water facilities and cleanliness.
Administrative Secretaries of departments of Rural Development Department, Housing & Urban Development, General Administration, Estates, Jal Shakti, Food, Civil Supplies & Consumer Affairs, besides Divisional Commissioners of Kashmir and Jammu, Deputy Commissioner Srinagar, Commissioners of JMC and SMC along with IGP, Security, IGP Kashmir, and IGP, Jammu participated in the meeting.
