by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group
special report
Jitters in J&K Bureaucracy as MHA plans mega reshuffle
Harish Gupta
New Delhi, Nov. 4
The bureaucracy, having good time for decades, in Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh may be out of their comfort zone. . If plans underway in the Union Home Ministry under Amit Shah are any indication, a major shake up in the bureaucracy in two Union Territories will happen soon. Nearly 5 lakh employees working in 41 Government Departments & other institutions have already been given the option to which UT they would like to serve. While the population is large in J&K, the territory is vast in Ladakh. The officers of the All India Services will also have to opt for any of the UT s. The Centre is now fixing the quota for the two Union Territories as per the norms. The status of IAS, IPS and IFS officers working there will also be changed.
The new recruits will be placed under the UT cadre and can be sent of any of the nine union territories now.
They will be subjected to postings in Delhi, Chandigarh, Pudduchery, A&NI, D&NH and Lakshadweep. The Jammu and Kashmir Re-organisation Act stipulates that the new LG of J&K will take a decision in this regard in consultation with the MHA. It simply means that G C Murmu, the new LG of J&K UT is the new boss of division of postings.
It is interesting that in June 2018 B V R Subrahmanyam, an officer of the Chhattisgarh cadre officer was sent to J&K Chief Secretary. No one had a clue as to what's cooking in NaMo administration mind. But the cards unfolded when the state was split and divided into two UT s.
Though much has been written about appointment of former Defence Secretary R K Mathur and ex- expenditure Secretary G C Murmu as new LG s, it gives a clue to their Out- of-Box thinking. It is also not a mere coincidence that the PM and his core team continue to talk about the desire to integrate PoK with India.
The appointment of former IB Chief Dineshwar Sharma as the Administrator of Lakshadweep which is increasingly exposed to Chinese strategic moves to encircle India and its intensifying strategic partnership with Shri Lanka, is also significant. Sharma was J&K Interlocutor.
Ends
