Srinagar:A month after the Ministry of Home Affairs ordered the first inter-Union Territory reshuffle of five officers of Indian Administrative Service and Indian Police Service between Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, the GC Murmu Government has relieved senior bureaucrat Ajit Kumar Sahu for subsequent posting in Leh.
Orders of relieving Sahu were issued Friday afternoon. Sahu was currently Commissioner-Secretary Jal Shakti department. The charge of Jal Shakti has been given to M Raju, the Commissioner-Secretary in Planning and Development.
Jammu and Kashmir, it may be mentioned here, is already facing a critical deficit of manpower at the senior level with only 60 IAS officers available against the sanctioned strength of 145. Of the 60 IAS officers, nine are currently on central deputation, five with Ladakh Union Territory, one under suspension, one under training, and another under an uncertain status with his resignation yet to be accepted after he joined politics. Practically, there are only 46 IAS officers available on rolls of the Jammu and Kashmir Union Territory including the Chief Secretary and three officers on inter-cadre deputation from other states.
According to an order issued by MHA on June 10, Ajeet Kumar Sahu( IAS), Ravinder Kumar (IAS), Bhim Sen Tuti (IPS) and Rajiv Omprakash Pande were to be transferred from Jammu and Kashmir to Ladakh, while as Sargun Shukla (IPS) was to be transferred from Ladakh to Jammu and Kashmir. The MHA had asked the Chief Secretary of Jammu and Kashmir and Advisor to Lieutenant Governor Ladakh to issue separate orders relieving them for further posting.
Sources said that the Jammu and Kashmir administration had tried to get the MHA order withdrawn in view of the manpower shortage but this did not happen. Two IPS officers Tuti and Pandey and IAS officer Ravinder Kumar were subsequently relieved for Ladakh at different intervals.
Ravinder Kumar, who has already joined in Ladakh, was posted as Deputy Commissioner Bandipore in north Kashmir, barely a month ago. Bhimsen Tutti was the Deputy Inspector General of Police, in-charge of Jammu-Samba-Kathua range. Upon his transfer to Ladakh, the charge of these three districts has been given to Vivek Gupta who is already in-charge of Rajouri-Poonch range.
Another Police officer posted out to Ladakh is Rajiv Omprakash Pande, who was currently Senior Superintendent of Police in Udhampur. The government has ordered posting of Sargun Shukla in his pace, who has yet to join.
The order of inter-Union Territory reshuffle of five officers had come as a surprise for the entire bureaucracy in Jammu and Kashmir as most officers in the senior positions said that no such proposal was in their knowledge. Sources close to all four officers confirmed to this writer that none of them had any anticipation of their posting to the other Union Territory.
Technically, the officers of All India Services are liable to be reshuffled between Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. Upon reorganisation of Jammu and Kashmir on August 5, 2019, the Jammu and Kashmir cadre of All India Services is spread over both Union Territories and abolished for the future. While the batches till 2019 continue to be known as the Jammu and Kashmir cadre till its impending reorganisation, the future civil list of the two Union Territories is to be borne upon the AGMUT –Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Mizoram and Union Territories –cadre.
It may be mentioned here that upon reorganisation and bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir all employees of the erstwhile state were asked for their options between the two Union Territories even as the final decision rested with the government. The officers of the All India Services were not asked any options as the common cadre made them liable to be transferred between the two Union Territories.
There were three IAS officers of Jammu and Kashmir cadre already posted in Ladakh at the time of reorganisation of the state and they continued there ever since. Following the creation of Ladakh as a Division, Saugat Biswas of 2006 batch was posted as Divisional Commission in February 2019. Baseer ul Haq has been Deputy Commissioner Kargil since February 2019 and Sachin Vaishy as Deputy Commissioner Leh since July 2019. Umang Narula, a Principal Secretary rank officer, joined the Ladakh UT as Advisor to Lieutenant Governor in November 2019.