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J&K orders Darbar Move: offices to reopen in Jammu on 2 November

By CAShorts DeskPublished Sources: J&K General Administration Department order; The Indian Express; Constitution of India; J&K Reorganisation Act, 2019; PIB

J&K orders Darbar Move: offices to reopen in Jammu on 2 November
Illustration (AI-generated)

Jammu and Kashmir's General Administration Department on 19 October 2026 ordered the annual Darbar Move for winter 2026-27. Forty-one offices, including every Civil Secretariat department, will shift to Jammu in full and 50 in camp. All will reopen in Jammu on 2 November, with J&K Police escorting the employees' bus convoys.

Syllabus: GS2 · Federalism & Local Government; Prelims · Polity & Governance; GS2 · Executive & Judiciary

Why this matters for UPSC

GS2 polity, Union territories: Prelims can ask what Article 239, Article 239A and Article 239AA provide and what the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019 set up; Mains, about governing a Union territory with two capitals.

Why it matters

A farmer or pensioner in the Kashmir Valley whose file sits with a department that has moved must now follow it up in Jammu for the winter, or through the few officials kept back in Srinagar. Thousands of employees uproot their households twice a year, and may keep their Srinagar government quarters for their families. The practice keeps both regions close to the seat of government, at a price paid in money, travel and broken continuity of work. The larger question is how a government spread across two very different climates stays within reach of all its people through the year.

Prelims pointers

  • Article 239: save as Parliament provides by law, every Union territory is administered by the President through an administrator appointed by him.
  • Article 239(2): the President may appoint a State's Governor as administrator of an adjoining Union territory, acting independently of the State's Council of Ministers.
  • Article 239A, inserted by the Constitution (Fourteenth Amendment) Act, 1962: Parliament may by law create a legislature, a Council of Ministers, or both, for Puducherry.
  • A law made under Article 239A is not deemed an amendment of the Constitution for the purposes of Article 368.
  • Article 239AA, from the Constitution (Sixty-ninth Amendment) Act, 1991: Delhi became the National Capital Territory, with a Legislative Assembly and a Lieutenant Governor.
  • Union territory of Ladakh: formed under section 3 of the 2019 Act from Kargil and Leh districts, without a legislature.
  • Chenani-Nashri tunnel: a 9 km bi-directional highway tunnel between Udhampur and Ramban, dedicated to the nation in April 2017, cutting Jammu-Srinagar travel time by two hours.
  • Banihal-Qazigund road tunnel: an 8.45 km twin-tube tunnel, one tube for each direction, opened in April 2022 as an all-weather link between Jammu and Kashmir.

Practise a UPSC-style question

With reference to the Darbar Move in Jammu and Kashmir, consider the following statements:

1. Offices moving "in camp" shift with their full staff, while offices moving "in full" take part of their staff.

2. Srinagar serves as the summer capital and Jammu as the winter capital of the Union territory.

3. The move shifts the Civil Secretariat and other offices between Srinagar and Jammu twice a year.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. (a) 1 and 2 only
  2. (b) 2 and 3 only
  3. (c) 1 and 3 only
  4. (d) 1, 2 and 3
Show the answer

Answer: (b) 2 and 3 only

Answer: (b) 2 and 3 only. The move is a twice-yearly shift between the two capitals; camp offices take only part of their staff.

Statement 1: incorrect. The 2026 order lets an office in camp carry only 33% of its staff or 10 officials, whichever is lower; offices in full move whole.

Statement 2: correct. Srinagar is the summer capital and Jammu the winter capital of the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir.

Statement 3: correct. The Civil Secretariat and other offices move to Jammu before winter and back to Srinagar for summer.

Eliminate: statement 1 swaps the two kinds of move, so it is incorrect. Out: (a), (c), (d).

Trap: Reversed direction. Statement 1 gives the right two terms but turns which one moves with full staff.

Remember: "In full" moves the whole office; "in camp" moves a third of it at most.

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