Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, July 28: The State Cabinet today ordered transfer and postings of several officers in the civil administration and promotion of six DIGs of Police as IGPs apart from recommending the grant of Scheduled Tribe (ST) status to Pahari speaking people to the Union Tribal Affairs Ministry.
The decisions were taken by the Cabinet which met in Srinagar this afternoon with Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti in the chair.
The Cabinet ordered transfer of a number of officers in the civil administration in the rank of Secretaries, Special Secretaries and Heads of Departments. However, the order hadn’t been signed by tonight and it was likely to be issued tomorrow morning, official sources said.
They said the Cabinet ordered promotion of six DIGs as IGPs. Their promotion had already been cleared by the Departmental Promotion Committee (DPC).
The promoted officers included Gareeb Dass and Vijay Kumar, who were on deputation with Government of India, Viplav Kumar, DIG Central Kumar with additional charge of IG Traffic, Surinder Gupta, DIG Udhampur, Johnny Williams, DIG Rajouri-Poonch range and Ahfadul Mujtaba, Director SSG.
Meanwhile, the Cabinet considered and approved the submission of the Report of the Committee of Experts constituted to study the ‘Socio-Economic Status and Common Ethnic Characteristics of Pahari Speaking People in Jammu and Kashmir’ to the Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs for grant of ST status to the Pahari speaking people of Jammu and Kashmir.
“The Committee of Experts after detailed study has recommended that owing to the cultural distinctiveness, vulnerable socio-economic condition and isolation of Pahari speaking people, there is a desperate need to mainstream this community by bringing them within the ambit of positive discrimination as governed by the constitutional principle of affirmative action and as applied to other marginalized communities of the country, ” official sources said.
They said the Cabinet accorded sanction to the inclusion of Srinagar and Kishtwar districts in the Ladli Beti Scheme of the Social Welfare Department, which was notified in September 2015.
The social assistance scheme Ladli Beti was earlier applicable to girl child born in only six identified districts of Anantnag, Pulwama, Budgam, Jammu, Kathua and Samba.
The Cabinet approved creation of a separate Department of Horticulture and it’s inclusion in the First Schedule of the Jammu and Kashmir Government Business Rules.
The Cabinet approved deletion of subjects viz Horticulture, Horticulture Marketing and Planning and Horticulture Produce Marketing and Processing Corporation Limited from the Agriculture Production Department and assigning these subjects to the Horticulture department.
It also approved renaming of CA&PD department as the Department of Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs.
It accorded sanction to the establishment of the Munsiff Court at Ukhral (Magarkote) in Ramban district along with creation of 5 posts including one each of Judicial Magistrate, Head Assistant, Reader/Steno-Typist, Junior Assistant and Orderly.
The Cabinet accorded sanction to the creation of one post of Deputy Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) and 4 posts of Deputy Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) by corresponding reduction of 5 posts of Assistant Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) and re-designating of remaining posts of Assistant Wildlife Warden and equivalent as Assistant Conservator of Forests (Wildlife).