Srinagar: The Jammu and Kashmir government on Monday started functioning from the summer capital here after shifting from winter capital as part of the pre-independence bi-annual Darbar Move practice.
Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti was accorded a guard of honour in Srinagar.
Raj Bhavan, Civil Secretariat and other offices were closed in Jammu on April 29 and reopened here on Monday.
The government would function in the summer capital till late October and then move to Jammu, the winter capital of the state, in the first week of November.
The government functioning for six months in winter capital Jammu and then shifting for the summer to Srinagar has long been referred to as `Darbar move`, a tradition started by the Dogra monarch maharaja Gulab Singh.
`Darbar` means royal court.
Since being sworn in on April 4, Mufti operated from Jammu. She now shifts to the civil secretariat here which also houses the offices of her ministerial colleagues and top bureaucrats.
`Darbar move` has often been criticised for its monarchical orginis and expenditure of crores of rupees of public money in shifting the seat of government.
The tradition, however, has got so much entrenched that any suggestion to dispense with it is immediately labelled as regional or parochial.
