Srinagar, Oct 20: The Jammu and Kashmir government has ordered the annual Darbar Move from Srinagar for the winter season 2026-27, with all offices scheduled to reopen in Jammu on November 02, 2026.
According to the order issued by Commissioner Secretary to the Government, M. Raju, accessed by Rising Kashmir, offices observing a five-day week will close in Srinagar after office hours on October 30, while those following a six-day week will close on October 31.
The order provides for two categories of offices moving to Jammu: those moving in full and those moving in camp.
All departments of the Civil Secretariat will move to Jammu in full including Chief Minister’s Secretariat; Personal Staff of Advisor to Chief Minister; Department of Civil Aviation; Civil Secretariat Dispensary; Security Staff of the Civil Secretariat; Civil Secretariat Treasury; Executive Director, Rehabilitation Council (Social Welfare Department); Accounts Officer, G.P. Fund Moving Cell; Financial Commissioner, Revenue (including Joint Director, Statistics in camp); Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, J&K; Chief Electoral Officer, J&K; Director, Youth Services & Sports; Director, Information, J&K; Director, Motor Garages; Director, Hospitality & Protocol Department, with catering staff; Director General, Accounts & Treasuries; Director, Employment, J&K; Director, Forest Protection Force; Director, Skill Development, J&K; Director, Forest Research Institute; Director, Tribal Affairs; Labour Commissioner, J&K; Custodian General, J&K; Transport Commissioner, J&K; Chief Executive Officer, J&K e-Governance Agency; Project Director, AIDS Control Society; J&K Board of Technical Education; J&K Advisory Board for the Development of Pahari Speaking People; J&K Water Resources Regulatory Authority; J&K Advisory Board for the Development of Gujjars & Bakerwals; One Man Forest Authority; Chief Engineer, Procurement & Material Management Wing, J&K; Chief Engineer, Planning & Design Wing, J&K; Director, Training, Testing, Inspections & Commissions, J&K; J&K Advisory Board for the Welfare & Development of Kissan; J&K Advisory Board for the Welfare & Development of Other Backward Classes; CEO/Secretary, J&K Building & Other Construction Workers Welfare Board; Director, Samagra Shiksha, J&K; Managing Director, J&K Women Development Corporation; Mission Director, J&K Rural Livelihood Mission (JKRLM); Controller, Drug & Food Control Organization; Mission Director, ICDS, J&K; Chairman, Committee of Fixation of Fee Structure of Private Educational Institutions; Director, Rural Sanitation, J&K; Commissioner, Food & Drug Administration, J&K; Office of Chairperson, JKRERA; Controller, Legal Metrology Department, J&K and J&K Employees State Insurance Society.
The office that will move in camp include Commissioner, State Taxes Department; Excise Commissioner, J&K, with skeletal staff; Director General, Economics & Statistics; Director General, Audit & Inspection; Director, Family Welfare MCH & Immunization; Director, AYUSH, J&K; Director, Soil Conservation, J&K; Director, Environment & Remote Sensing, J&K; Director, Sericulture, J&K; Director, Horticulture (P&M), J&K; Director, Geology & Mining, J&K; Director, Libraries & Research, J&K; Director, Archives, Archaeology & Museums, J&K; Chief Architect, J&K; Director, Financial Organization, PDD; Mission Director, Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA), J&K; Nucleus Staff of Funds Organization; Gazette Section of J&K Government Press; Registrar, Cooperatives, J&K; Subordinate Office of Science & Technology Department; Director, Social Forestry, J&K; J&K Services Selection Board, with staff to be determined by the Chairman; Board of Professional Entrance Examination, with staff to be determined by the Chairman; Chairman, J&K Pollution Control Committee; J&K Socially & Economically Backward Classes Commission; J&K Special Tribunal, with marginal staff; Managing Directors of all PSUs, with skeletal staff; J&K Commercial Taxes Tribunal, with marginal staff; DFO, Photo Interpretation Division (Forest Department), with marginal staff; J&K Khadi & Village Industries Board, with staff to be determined by the Industries & Commerce Department; J&K Housing Board; Chief Wildlife Warden, J&K; Chairman of the Committee for Fixation of Fee Structure of Professional Colleges in the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir; Chief Engineer, Commercial and Survey Wing; J&K Academy of Art, Culture & Languages, with 26 employees; Relief & Rehabilitation Commissioner (Migrants); Director, Fisheries, J&K; Empowered Officer, PMGSY (JKRRDA); Directorate of National Health Mission, J&K; Office of the J&K Medical Supplies Corporation; Chief Engineer, J&K UEED; Mission Director, J&K Skill Development Mission (as per past practice); Chief Executive Officer, ERA, J&K; Chief Executive Officer, Mission Youth, J&K; Directorate General, Women & Child Development, J&K; Mission Director, ICPS, J&K; Director Colleges, Higher Education Department, J&K; Directorate of Local Funds, Audit & Pensions, J&K; Chief Executive Officer, IWMP, J&K and State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT).
Offices moving in camp will carry only 33 per cent of their staff strength or 10 officials, whichever is less, unless specifically indicated otherwise.
The government has fixed a uniform Special Move Travel Allowance of Rs 25,000 for each employee moving with the Darbar Move. However, employees who do not move before or within the prescribed date will not be entitled to the allowance.
The Jammu and Kashmir Road Transport Corporation (JKRTC) has been directed to arrange sufficient buses in good condition for transporting employees on October 31 and November 1. Tickets will be available in advance from October 27 at the Civil Secretariat and the corporation’s main booking counters, with bookings to employees’ destinations wherever feasible.
Each convoy will be accompanied by one crane and two empty buses to deal with breakdowns, while mobile workshops will also accompany the convoys. The J&K Police will provide escort throughout the journey and ensure that the move convoys receive precedence while crossing the Banihal-Qazigund Tunnel and the Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee Tunnel.
The Health and Medical Education Department has been directed to establish medical aid facilities at Qazigund, Banihal, Ramsu, Ramban, Chenani, Udhampur and Jhajjar Kotli on the days employees travel to Jammu.
The Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Department will set up ration counters at suitable locations around residential colonies of move employees in Jammu to ensure adequate supplies.
The Estates Department will provide accommodation to officers and officials moving with the Darbar Move as per past practice. However, employees will not be permitted to occupy government, Estate Department, municipal or residential accommodation without a proper allotment order. They may retain government accommodation allotted to them in Srinagar for the bona fide use of their families, subject to approved terms and conditions and intimation to the Estates Department.
The government has also authorised advance pay for non-gazetted employees who apply for it, recoverable in instalments as per rules. October salaries of employees working in move offices will be drawn on October 29.
No leave will ordinarily be admissible in combination with or in continuation of the move days, except under very exceptional circumstances. Five days of Special Casual Leave will, however, be allowed to Kashmir-based employees moving to Jammu who wish to avail of it, irrespective of whether accommodation is available to them in Jammu.
The General Administration Department will establish a Winter Secretariat at the Civil Secretariat in Srinagar to facilitate the functioning of the administration during the winter session.
All Administrative Secretaries have been asked to furnish details of one gazetted and four non-gazetted employees to be retained at the Srinagar Civil Secretariat. No employee can be retained without prior approval of the competent authority. Departments have been asked to give preference, wherever feasible, to female employees and those with serious medical conditions.
Each department will also identify a room at the Civil Secretariat in Srinagar for the retained employees and submit the details to the General Administration Department for allotment orders.
Departments have further been directed to detach staff, if any, deployed from subordinate offices in Kashmir Division by October 27. The SSP (Security), Civil Secretariat, will withdraw temporary identity cards issued to such staff and submit a report to the General Administration Department before the offices close in Srinagar.
On reopening in Jammu, the Civil Secretariat and Heads of Departments located within its premises will function from 9:30 am to 5:30 pm. Moving Heads of Departments located outside the Civil Secretariat and observing a six-day week will work from 10 am to 4:30 pm.
