Darbar Move Returns

Omar Abdullah's decision to revive the century-old Darbar Move may rekindle nostalgia, but it raises deeper questions about governance priorities, fiscal logic, and the lived realities of common people in Jammu and Kashmir.

- Basit Rasool Thokero

The decision by Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah to revive the Darbar Move, a colonial-era practice of shifting the Civil Secretariat between Srinagar and Jammu, has reopened an old debate about the region’s governance priorities.

First introduced in 1872 by Maharaja Ranbir Singh, the move was intended to balance administrative presence between the two capitals and adapt to seasonal extremes: Jammu’s heat and Srinagar’s cold.

Over the years, it became a political ritual wrapped in symbolism, until it was suspended in 2021 by Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha for being economically wasteful and administratively unnecessary.

Four years later, its reinstatement feels like a step backward. ‘The question is not about history or symbolism. It is about whether the government can afford such an expensive exercise when the region is still struggling with unemployment, poor healthcare, and underfunded education.

According to official estimates, the biannual shift costs around 200 crore every year. This includes the transportation of files, furniture, and equipment, the payment of travel allowances and accommodation for thousands of employees, and the logistics of running two capitals.

For a Union Territory that continues to rank among India’s most resource-constrained regions, this expenditure raises tough questions.

Can a government that claims to be digitized justify spending this much money on a symbolic migration of files and officials?

The funds could instead be used for repairing flood-hit infrastructure, improving hospitals, building schools, or creating jobs for young people who are increasingly leaving Kashmir in search of livelihood.