Srinagar/May,7: Civil Secretariat, the seat of the Jammu and Kashmir government, Monday opened here after functioning in winter capital for six months as part of the nearly 150-year-old practice known in the state as ‘Darbar Move’.
Besides the Civil Secretariat, the other move offices, including Raj Bhawan, police headquarters and several commissions opened here this morning.
Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti inspected the traditional guard of honour given to her by a police contingent at the Civil Secretariat lawns.The practice of the ‘Darbar Move’ — under which the state government functions in Jammu during six winter months and in Srinagar during summer — was started by Maharaja Gulab Singh in 1872 to escape extreme weather conditions in the two regions of the state.
However, the practice was continued even after Independence with the aim of providing governance benefits to both the Kashmir and Jammu regions of the state for six months by turns.