Darbar on the Move: Srinagar offices down shutters, will reopen in Jammu on Nov 3

Jammu, Oct 31: All the Move offices, observing a five-day work week, closed at Srinagar after office hours on Friday, October 31, 2025, for the next six months.

Meanwhile, the offices, observing six days a week, will close in the summer capital on Saturday, November 1, 2025, as part of the resumption of practice of bi-annual ‘Darbar move’.

However, the subordinate offices of the Home Department, under the direct control of the Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, will be an exception as they will continue to function simultaneously at both Srinagar and Jammu as usual.

The employees, along with the main official convoy carrying important records from the Civil Secretariat, Srinagar, and other Move offices, will ‘move’ to Jammu on November 1 and 2, 2025.

According to officials, as the Jammu and Kashmir administration has almost completely transitioned to e-Office with over 350 major departments totally functioning online, the physical shifting of files and records, as was the past practice, would not be required.

“Only important records will be physically moved or shifted, while the rest of the records and files will be transferred through pen-drives besides the usual data transfer mode,” they stated.

J&K had shifted to e-office in 2021. On January 16, 2023, J&K, officially speaking, had become fully digital.

On January 17, 2023, the Union Territory (UT) administration constituted a six-member Coordination Cell for monitoring the progress on the implementation of online services in various districts.

All administrative departments, Heads of Departments, Deputy Commissioners, Managing Directors of all PSUs and Corporations, too, were asked to constitute similar cells.

As per its terms of reference, the Cell was asked to submit a progress report of all online services being provided in the districts of the Union Territory to the office of the Chief Secretary on a daily basis.

All administrative departments, Heads of Departments, Deputy Commissioners, Managing Directors of all PSUs and Corporations were also directed to monitor the progress of online services being provided by their departments and offices, and ensure that all the services in their respective departments and jurisdiction were provided through online mode only.

Notably, after switching over to e-office, the J&K administration had issued strict instructions to all the officials to not to entertain any physical files.

ARRANGEMENTS FOR MOVE EMPLOYEES

For facilitating smooth and secure movement of employees (in JKRTC buses) and the passage of ‘Move convoy’ on Srinagar Jammu National Highway, the J&K Traffic Police has made special arrangements.

According to Inspector General of Police (IGP) Traffic J&K, Vivek Gupta, the movement will be closely monitored and regulated by the Traffic Police in coordination with the District Police, civil administration, and NHAI authorities to “ensure a smooth and safe passage of the convoy and associated traffic.”

“For this purpose, only downward traffic (Srinagar to Jammu) will be permitted on the Srinagar Jammu National Highway (NH-44) on November 1 and 2, 2025. To facilitate this movement, no upward traffic (from Jammu to Srinagar) of heavy motor vehicles, including that of the Army, Paramilitary forces, and other government convoys, will be allowed on the said dates (November 1 and 2, 2025),” IGP Traffic has instructed.

This restriction, according to the IGP Gupta, has been imposed purely as a “temporary traffic regulation measure to avoid congestion, ensure the safety of official convoys and prevent any inconvenience to the general public.”

Public and private vehicle operators, too, have been asked to plan their travel accordingly and avoid unnecessary movement on these days (November 1 and 2).

To accommodate ‘Move employees’ in the winter capital during their stay for the next six months, the government quarters at the B C Road have been renovated. Besides, the arrangements have been made for the Move employees at Sarwal, Ahata Amar Singh at Panjtirthi, Muthi, among several other places, with the construction of new quarters in addition to the existing facilities.