The CPI(M) on Monday held a protest demonstration in Jammu, the winter capital of Jammu and Kashmir, demanding the restoration of the Darbar Move and statehood.

The Darbar Move is the biannual shift of the state secretariat and other government offices from the summer capital Srinagar to the winter capital Jammu.

A tradition started during the rule of Maharaja Ranbir Singh in 1872, it continued until 2020, when the UT administration announced that state secretariats would be maintained in both Jammu and Srinagar.

Scores of CPI(M) workers, led by JK Kisan Tehreek president Kishor Kumar, carried placards in support of restoring the Darbar Move and special status for land and job rights. They raised slogans like "Darbar Move bahaal karo, statehood bahaal karo".

Blaming the BJP for downgrading the state to a Union Territory (UT) and halting the Darbar Move, the protesters demanded the restoration of the Darbar Move, statehood and exclusive land and job rights for locals.

"We are holding a protest in support of restoring the Darbar Move and statehood in Jammu and Kashmir. We demand reservation of land and job rights for locals under special status," Kumar told reporters.

He said the BJP for all the issues being faced by JK, particularly the revocation of statehood, special status and the stopping of the Darbar Move. With the formation of the new democratic government here, the central government should restore these, he added.

Kumar said the then Maharaja Hari Singh had given the people of JK special status.

"The BJP acted as a villain by taking away these rights. It stopped the age-old practice of the Darbar Move, which was aimed at integrating Kashmir and Jammu regions," he said.

The General Administration Department (GAD) on October 23 issued an order stating that only the administrative secretaries and UT-level heads of departments (HoDs) would shift to Jammu from Srinagar from November 11 and would attend the Civil Secretariat in Srinagar as needed, officially ending the Darbar Move.

The GAD order issued by Commissioner-Secretary Sanjeev Verma said, "The Administrative Secretaries and Union Territory level Heads of Departments shall ensure their availability at the Civil Secretariat, Jammu, with effect from November 11. However, they will attend the Civil Secretariat, Srinagar as per functional requirements." The biannual Darbar Move was a practice which involved shifting the government from Srinagar to Jammu during the winter months -- from October to May -- and back to Srinagar along with hundreds of officials, thousands of files and equipments in hundreds of buses and trucks.

On June 20, 2021, Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha had announced that the JK administration has completely transitioned to e-office, thereby ending the practice of the biannual Darbar Move.

"Now both the Jammu and Srinagar secretariats can function normally for 12 months. This will save the government Rs 200 crore per year, which will be used for the welfare of the deprived sections", the LG had said.

Since then, employees based in Jammu have worked there year-round, with the same arrangement applying to those in Srinagar. Only administrative secretaries and UT-level HODs continue to rotate between the two cities as needed to ensure that the services remain available at all times.

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