The Jammu and Kashmir Civil Secretariat and other key government offices resumed functioning in Jammu on Monday, November 2, as part of the revived biannual Darbar Move tradition, IANS reported. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah formally resumed work from the winter capital after arriving at the Civil Secretariat, where he was accorded a guard of honour by a contingent of the J&K Armed Police.

Source: IANS via The Freedom Press

With the Chief Minister's arrival, all top offices — including those of his cabinet colleagues, the Chief Secretary and senior commissioners — started functioning in Jammu on Monday. The headquarters of the Director General of Police, the Director of the Anti-Corruption Bureau, and the crime, traffic, home guards and fire and emergency services departments have also relocated to Jammu, while the offices of the Lieutenant Governor and the Chief Justice of the J&K and Ladakh High Court likewise shift to Jammu for the winter months.

Officials said more than 100 offices have resumed functioning in the winter capital for the 2026-27 winter session: the Chief Minister's Secretariat and 40 other departments have moved in full, while 50 offices will function in camp mode. The Darbar Move offices had closed in the summer capital Srinagar on October 30, and a winter secretariat staffed on a rotational basis will continue to function in Srinagar so that work in the Valley does not suffer, according to GNS reporting carried by The Kashmir Horizon.

Source: GNS via The Kashmir Horizon

A tradition discontinued in 2021, revived in 2025

The Darbar Move is a nearly 160-year-old practice begun by the erstwhile Dogra Maharajas, under which the seat of government shuttles between Srinagar and Jammu with the seasons. It was kept alive until 2021, when the Lieutenant Governor's administration discontinued it during the period of central administration that followed the abrogation of Article 370. Restoring the six-monthly move was an electoral promise in the National Conference's 2024 manifesto, and the elected government headed by Omar Abdullah resumed the practice in 2025 — making this the second consecutive winter in Jammu under the revived arrangement.

Jammu will now serve as the Union Territory's winter capital for the coming six months, with the Secretariat functioning from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., before the offices shift back to Srinagar for the summer.