SPVs for Smart Cities yet to get independent CEOs
Mohinder Verma
JAMMU, June 29: There is no end to adhocism at the highest level in J&K bureaucracy with functioning of seven key departments in the Civil Secretariat being handled by assigning additional charge to Administrative Secretaries of other departments. Moreover, there are several other posts including those of Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of Special Purpose Vehicles for Smart Cities which don’t have full time officers.
Official sources told EXCELSIOR that for the first time in the history of Jammu and Kashmir, the Government is facing peculiar situation in filling the vacant posts of the Administrative Secretaries of different departments.
During current year, several IAS officers, who were holding the posts of Administrative Secretaries of different departments, attained superannuation and because of dearth of eligible officers to man these posts adhocism has prevailed.
“While adhocism is aggravating with every passing month the Government has yet not worked out any mechanism to effectively deal with the peculiar situation and provide full time Administrative Secretaries to all the departments, which otherwise is imperative to ensure their smooth functioning”, sources said, adding “because of shortage of eligible officers several other posts are also being managed through adhoc arrangements by the Government”.
As per the data of General Administration Department, Dheeraj Gupta, Chief Executive Officer of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board is holding the additional charge of the post of Principal Resident Commissioner, J&K Government New Delhi.
Navin Kumar Choudhary, Principal Secretary Finance Department is holding the additional charge of the post of Chairman Bureau of Public Enterprises J&K while as Rohit Kansal, Principal Secretary Planning, Development and Monitoring Department is holding the additional charge of Administrative Secretary of Hospitality, Protocol, Estates and Civil Aviation Departments.
Shailendra Kumar, Principal Secretary Industries and Commerce Department has been assigned the additional charge of Administrative Secretary Labour and Employment Department while as Raj Kumar Bhagat, Commissioner Secretary Animal and Sheep Husbandry Department is holding the additional charge of the post of Administrative Secretary Cooperative Department.
M Raju, Secretary PHE, Irrigation and Flood Control Department is holding the additional charge of the post of Administrative Secretary Transport Department while as Mohammad Javed Khan, Secretary Technical Educ-ation, Youth Services and Sports Departments is holding the additional charge of the post of Administrative Secretary Higher Education Department.
Similarly, Saugat Biswas, Transport Commissioner is holding the additional charge of the post of Secretary Information Technology Department as well as of the post of Chief Executive Officer JaKeGA. Sarmad Hafeez, Special Secretary Information Department is holding the additional charge of the post of Administrative Secretary Information Department.
Farooq Ahmed Lone, Chief Executive Officer of Economic Reconstruction Agency (ERA) is holding the additional charge of the post of Chief Executive Officer Special Purpose Vehicle for Srinagar Smart City. Likewise, Ramesh Kumar, Commissioner Jammu Municipal Corporation is holding the additional charge of the post of Chief Executive Officer Special Purpose Vehicle for Jammu Smart City.
As per the rules, IAS officers of up to 2005 batch are currently eligible for the posts of Administrative Secretaries. However, at present the Government doesn’t have All India Service officers who fulfill this eligibility thereby leading to the peculiar situation.
It is pertinent to mention here that before 2006 regular recruitment of IAS officers in respect of J&K cadre was very less and the same picked up momentum only after 2009. Moreover, during the period between 1996 and 2006, only few IAS officers made it to the J&K cadre.
During 1996, 1998 and 2000, no IAS officer was allotted J&K cadre which is one of the contributing factors to the dearth of eligible officers for the posts of Administrative Secretaries at present.
Similarly, there was no batch of Jammu and Kashmir Administrative Services (KAS) during the period between 1984 and 1999, which is why there is a crisis of inducted KAS officers as well.
“There are certain departments where posts of Administrative Secretaries cannot be kept vacant for long time keeping in view their importance”, sources said and hoped that the State Administrative Council (SAC) will pay serious attention towards the prevailing situation and evolve mechanism to overcome the crisis.
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