Cabinet meeting today
Mohinder Verma
JAMMU, Apr 17: State Cabinet, which is meeting under the chairmanship of Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah, tomorrow evening, is likely to appoint Bipul Pathak, IAS officer of 1996 batch, as Commissioner Secretary, Health and Medical Education Department.
Authoritative sources told EXCELSIOR that Bipul Pathak, who was on extra ordinary leave during his Central deputation, has been recalled and is being posted as Commissioner Secretary, Health and Medical Education Department.
He will relieve Commissioner Secretary Higher Education, Tanveer Jehan of the additional charge of the Commissioner Secretary Health and Medical Education Department, which was given to her following the retirement of G A Peer.
Ruling out major transfers and postings in tomorrow’s Cabinet meeting, sources said, “the major shake-up in the bureaucracy will be affected either in next Cabinet meeting scheduled to be held on April 25 or in the first Cabinet meeting at Srinagar following reopening of Darbar there”.
To a question, they said, “some more officers are likely to be recalled from the Central deputation in order to fill up the posts, which are going to fall vacant by end of current month or ending May”.
They said that Cabinet will accord approval to the creation of six posts of Lecturers in various disciplines for the Super Specialty Hospitals at Srinagar and Jammu.
Based on the decision taken in a meeting convened by Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister, B B Vyas, on December 17, 2011, the Medical Education Department has formulated a proposal for creation of six posts of Lecturers for Super Specialty Hospital Jammu and Srinagar, sources said.
These posts include two each in the discipline of Cardio Vascular Thoracic Surgery (CVTS) and Neurology and one each in Cardiology and Neurology. These six posts involve annual financial implication of Rs 18.60 lakh, sources said, adding the posts would be fully funded by Planning and Development Department for first five years.
It is worthwhile to mention here that for up-gradation of Government Medical Colleges of Jammu and Srinagar and associated hospitals, the Health and Medical Education Department has already created 4124 posts of various categories. These posts include 2093 for Medical College Jammu and 2031 for Medical College Srinagar.
Sources said that Cabinet will also declare the wind-storm of March 19 and 20 as Natural Calamity in the category of Cyclone in pursuance to the guidelines issued by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDPA).
It is pertinent to mention here that Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah, had, on the floor of Legislative Assembly, announced that Government would declare the wind-storm as natural calamity keeping in view the gravity of the situation that had arisen due to the wind-storm.
In the wind-storm, four persons—one each at Anantnag, Pulwama, Ganderbal and Reasi had lost their lives while as 39 persons received injuries. As far as damage to property is concerned, 131 residential houses were damaged fully and 12475 partially. Similarly, 4076 non-residential structures, 98 school buildings and 10 house boats too suffered damages in the wind-storm.
The losses suffered by the Power Development Department have been worked out at Rs 624.29 lakh—Rs 466.01 lakh in Kashmir province and Rs 158.28 in Jammu province.
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