Darbar Move Decision 

When the Darbar Move offices closed in Srinagar in October and reopened in Jammu on November 4 in the back drop of Article 37 revocation, the speculations were that the administration was planning to do away with the century-old practice that costs the J&K exchequer huge money annually. As per details revealed by the government pursuant to the directions by the J&K high court, over Rs 130 crore are spend every year for Darbar Move from Jammu to Srinagar and vice-versa.
A total of 10112 gazetted, non-gazetted and Class-IV employees of Civil Secretariat, Head of Departments, Organizations/Boards/Corporations, Judiciary and Legislature were moved from Jammu to Srinagar in April 2019 and an expenditure of Rs 1636 lakh was incurred on providing Moving TA, loading/unloading and carriage etc. In addition, an expenditure of Rs 1212 lakh was incurred on account of Temporary Move Allowance at the rate of Rs 2000 per employee for six months.
The practice dates back to 1892 and allows the rulers to escape the Kashmir chill and extremes of summer heat in Jammu.
There have always been voices, both from Jammu as well Kashmir who wanted the practice to end.
Those in support of keeping the Darbar in Srinagar argue that there is now high quality winter clothing available to handle minus temperatures during the three months of extreme winter while centralised heating or ACs is no longer a luxury.
Similarly those supporting idea of having the seat of government in Jammu contend that there is wherewithal available to deal with the extreme heat conditions in Jammu, mainly lasting three months.
History bears testimony to the fact during the time the Durbar is at one of the capitals, the other one gets neglected in many ways.  It is a fact that the continuance of the practice has resulted in some social and economic integration, despite the communal fringe elements always profiting from public discontent and disorder. The two regions have become dependent on each other and one would want it not to be disturbed.
The government’s decision to defer the formal reopening of the Darbar Move in Srinagar till June 15 seems to be a measure aimed at preventing the spread of the coronavirus and if the underlining reasons is really to be so, it cannot be faulted with. If the reasons are different, one would want all those who are at it to wait and leave the “policy decision” to be taken by elected government