Rationalisation of the Durbar Move: A Step Towards Good Governance in Jammu and Kashmir

Published date01 March 2024
DOIhttp://doi.org/10.1177/00195561231204609
AuthorAijaz Ashraf Wani,Janan Ahmad Parray
Date01 March 2024
Subject MatterArticles
Rationalisation of the
Durbar Move: A Step
Towards Good
Governance in
Jammu and Kashmir
Aijaz Ashraf Wani1 and Janan Ahmad Parray1
Abstract
Digitisation of records and the subsequent implementation of e-Office1 soft-
ware in various Durbar Move2 offices of the Union Territory (UT) of Jammu and
Kashmir (J&K) has changed the concept and nature of governance significantly.
With the implementation of e-Office software in various departments of the
Civil Secretariat, there has been a significant impact on the governance efficiency
and service delivery in the UT. The present paper attempts to understand, exam-
ine, and analyse the impact of e-Office software on the delivery of governance
services in J&K. It is an endeavour to understand how the new system of e-Office
enables the administrative apparatus and enables the governance to be more
responsive, accountable, transparent, and citizen-friendly.
Keywords
Capital-shifting, Durbar Move, good governance, e-Office, digitisation, rationalisaton,
accountability, transparence, responsiveness
Introduction
In the modern world, e-governance has revitalised democracy and improved the
quality of citizen-services through the use of information and communication
technology. It has enabled states to transcend from the traditional bureaucracy-
centric approach to a more citizen-centric approach by taking recourse to the use
of online services (Milakovich, 2021, p. xii). In fact, information and communica-
tion technologies have inuenced every aspect of the administrative machinery
Article
Indian Journal of Public
Administration
70(1) 140–157, 2024
© 2023 IIPA
Article reuse guidelines:
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DOI: 10.1177/00195561231204609
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1 Department of Political Science, University of Kashmir, Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir
Corresponding author:
Aijaz Ashraf Wani, Department of Political Science, University of Kashmir, Srinagar, Jammu and
Kashmir 190006, India.
E-mail: ajazwani@uok.edu.in
Wani and Parray 141
(Milakovich, 2021, p. xiii). The concepts of governance, public administration,
and public services have evolved so quickly in recent times that the world has
now shifted to what is rightly called ‘Smart Digital Governance’ (Milakovich,
2021, p. xiv). The modern world has transcended to the concept of e-governance,
with the objective of providing home-delivery of good governance and services to
the citizens. Certainly, e-Governance has become one of the most satisfactory
models of governance in the contemporary world, for it facilitates a state to deliver
efcient, effective, accountable, and transparent governance services to its citi-
zens (Mahmood, 2019). The conception of e-Governance is fundamentally prem-
ised on the notion of delivering services to the public in an efcient manner and at
an affordable cost by making use of information technology by the government in
order to bring about Simple, Moral, Accountable, Responsive, and Transparent
(SMART) governance.
Over time, the concept of governance has evolved, and the volume of
government business has significantly multiplied. The process of submitting
anything to the government and transforming it into an output involves a
complex workflow with multiple stages. This includes creating files, recording
data, conducting assessments at various levels, and ultimately issuing decisions
in the form of letters, circulars, orders, and notifications (General Administration
Department, 1998). Managing the diverse collection of official records and
running administrative affairs in a State like J&K, where the capital alternates
between two geographical regions biannually, poses multifaceted and time-
consuming challenges. The practice of switching the capital, commonly known
as the ‘Durbar Move’, has been a distinct feature of the political-administrative
system of J&K for the last one and a half centuries. While this tradition has been
defended by many analysts, civil society members as well as political parties
and leaders for socio-political reasons, however, there are opposite arguments
as well pointing to its negative impact on the economic growth and governance
of the region. It is argued that the perpetuation of the Durbar Move practice
negatively affects both the public purse and common citizens (Ismail Azra vs
The Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, 2020). Despite acknowledging
its negative effects on governance and public services delivery, all the previous
governments were hesitant to end the practice due to political considerations
thereby overlooking its economic or efficiency implications. The fear of
emotional backlash in both Jammu and Kashmir regions, impacting the vote
bank, hindered any attempts to discontinue the tradition (Badhwar, 1987). Few
attempts made in the past were immediately halted in the face of stiff opposition,
both by the political opponents and the public. However, after the J&K State
Reorganisation Act of 2019, which resulted in the bifurcation of J&K into two
Union Territories, the administration of J&K went for the digitisation of official
records in Durbar Move offices and subsequently introduced e-Office software
(ETGNC, 2021; Verma, 2021). The implementation of e-Office, aimed to
rationalise if not entirely eliminate the traditional Durbar Move practice. It has
brought about transparency, accountability, and responsiveness in the governance
benefiting the masses. With this background in mind, the present study aims at
uncovering potential triggers for Durbar Move rationalisation. It attempts to

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