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While the world moves forward in the 21st century to new age governance, the J&K Government is seeking to return to 19th century practices of colonial era monarchy

RAHUL SHARMA

The colonial era ritual of the bi-annual “Darbar Move”, under which the government of the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir shifts offices between Jammu and Srinagar, has been revived. The practice, rooted in the Dogra monarchy, is a throwback to monarchical governance — at odds with 21st-century expectations of continuity, digital administration and equity.

The Darbar Move was introduced in the 1870s by the Dogra ruler Maharaja Ranbir Singh, according to historical sources, as a means of escaping the intense summer heat of Jammu and the deep winter chill of the Kashmir Valley. While sensible from

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