SRINAGAR: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Wednesday said the disbanded Durbar Move will be restored.
Darbar move, an age-old practice under which the civil secretariat and other government offices used to function six months each in Srinagar and Jammu during summer and winter, respectively.
“Darbar move is an issue which I fail to understand why it was not projected during campaigning for assembly polls. The issue gained momentum only after the election,” he said after meeting traders and businessmen.
The NC in its poll manifesto has pledged to restore the Durbar Move. “In our election manifesto, we have assured that the Durbar Move will be restored. Jammu has its own uniqueness and importance and we will not allow it to diminish,” he said.
The Durbar Move, which was introduced by Maharaja Gulab Singh in 1872, was abandoned by the Lt Governor administration in 2021, two years after abrogation of Article 370 and bifurcation of erstwhile J&K state into two Union Territories on August 5, 2019.
In June 2021, L-G Manoj Sinha ended the 149-year-old practice of Durbar move saying the it would save the government Rs 200 crore every year.