SRINAGAR: Implementing a Central Government notification, the Rajbhavan in Jammu and Kashmir has been renamed as Lok Bhavan.

“In pursuance of communication from the Ministry of Home Affairs the Government of India vide Memo No 7/10/2025 (Part)-M&G dated 25/11/2025 and as per the direction of the Lieutenant Governor, Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, it is hereby notified that the name of the Institution "Raj Bhavan, Jammu and Kashmir" has hereby been modified and named as "Lok Bhavan, Jammu and Kashmir,” read an official order issued by Dr. Mandeep K Bhandari, Principal Secretary to Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha.

It stated that henceforth, Raj Bhavan in Jammu and Kashmir would be referred to only as Lok Bhavan. Two days back, the Raj Bhavan in Ladakh was named as Lok Niwas.

Lt Governor of the Ladakh Union Territory, Kavinder Gupta had called the naming of Raj Niwas as Lok Niwas a historic moment.

“A historic moment for Ladakh. Raj Niwas has been officially renamed as Lok Niwas, symbolising our deep commitment to people-centric governance and inclusive development,” Gupta said.

The change in the name of Raj Bhavan of J&K and Raj Niwas of Ladakh followed a directive from Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to states and UTs to rename Raj Bhavans and shed the earlier nomenclature associated with colonial era.

The MHA in its directive had asked for the renaming of offices of Governor and offices of Lt Governor in states and UTs as ‘Lok Bhavan’ and ‘Lok Niwas’ respectively, for all official purposes. Taking cue from the MHA letter, many states have changed the nomenclature of Governor residence-cum-offices.