Srinagar: Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti was accorded a guard of honour here on Monday as the Jammu and Kasmir government moved here on Monday for the summer.
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.
IANS