Against 137 sanctioned posts, only 68 in position, 13 on deputation
14 officers presently holding addl charge of 18 deptts/wings
Mohinder Verma
JAMMU, Oct 2: Acute shortage of IAS officers at the senior level is adversely impacting implementation of various Centrally Sponsored Schemes and Programmes in Jammu and Kashmir and situation will deteriorate further as more bureaucrats will attain age of superannuation in near future.
“Though the Governor’s Administration is striving hard to provide citizens a clean, transparent and accountable administration yet State is confronted with severe shortage of officers at the senior level as such adversely impacting implementation of various Centrally Sponsored Schemes and service delivery”, official sources told EXCELSIOR.
The intensity of the prevailing situation can be gauged from the fact that against the sanctioned strength of 137 posts in IAS cadre of the State, only 68 officers are in position in Jammu and Kashmir with 13 officers are on Central deputation. This clearly indicates that the State is presently having less than 50% IAS officers as against the sanctioned strength.
“No doubt, Government is trying its level best to manage the affairs of all the departments and other wings by giving additional charge to the available IAS officers at the senior level but practically it is not possible for one officer to look after the day-to-day affairs of two-three departments and keep strict watch on the implementation of the Centrally Sponsored Schemes and Programmes as per the guidelines laid down by the concerned Union Ministries”, sources further said.
Some months back the issue of severe shortage of IAS officers was debated in the State Administrative Council (SAC) headed by Governor Satya Pal Malik and in order to bring an end to the ad hocism at the senior level in the State bureaucracy it was decided to relax rules in consultation with the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), Government of India and consider IAS officers having less than 13 years of service and Super Time Scale officers of Jammu and Kashmir Administrative Service (KAS) for the Secretary to Government level posts.
“However, no follow-up action was taken on the decision of SAC and in the meanwhile more IAS officers attained superannuation thereby complicating the situation”, sources further said, adding “the problem gets aggravated whenever some senior IAS officers are deputed to other States for different purposes particularly election related duties”.
As per the data of the General Administration Department, at present 14 IAS officers are holding the additional charge of around 18 departments and other wings as in view of acute shortage of officers the Government is facing difficulties in managing the affairs of these departments on regular basis.
Bipul Pathak, Principal Secretary to Government, Social Welfare Department is holding the additional charge of the Administrative Secretary of the Information Technology and Science and Technology Department besides looking after the responsibilities of the Chief Executive Officer of JAKEGA.
Dheeraj Gupta, Principal Secretary Housing and Urban Development Department is holding the additional charge of the posts of Principal Resident Commissioner J&K Government New Delhi, Smart Cities and CEO of new Jammu/Srinagar Metro Region Development Authorities.
Asgar Hassan Samoon, Principal Secretary Animal and Sheep Husbandry is holding the additional charge of the post of Secretary to Government, Transport Department while as Navin Kumar Choudhary, Principal Secretary Industries and Commerce Department is holding the additional charge of the post of Secretary Tourism and Chairman Chenab Valley Power Projects Pvt Limited.
Rohit Kansal, Principal Secretary to Government Planning, Development and Monitoring Department is also looking after the affairs of Hospitality, Estates and Civil Aviation Departments while as Manoj Dwivedi, Commissioner/Secretary Forest, Environment and Ecology Department is holding the additional charge of the Administrative Secretary of Information and Public Relations Department.
P K Pole, Secretary to Government, Disaster Management and Relief and Rehabilitation Department is holding the additional charge of the Administrative Secretary of Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Department while as M Raju, Managing Director of Jammu and Kashmir Projects Construction Corporation is holding the additional charge of Excise Commissioner.
Manzoor Ahmed Lone, Secretary Horticulture Department is holding the additional charge of the post of Administrative Secretary Agriculture Production Department while as Farooq Ahmed Lone, Secretary General Administration Department is holding the additional charge of the post of Director General IMPARD.
Ramesh Kumar, Additional Secretary Industries and Commerce Department is holding the additional charge of Managing Director IT Infrastructure Company while as Ravinder Kumar, Managing Director of SIDCO is holding the additional charge of the post of MD J&K Trade Promotion Organization and Owais Ahmed, CEO JAKEDA is holding the additional charge of the post of Managing Director JKSRTC.
“Besides relaxation of rules as already decided by the State Administrative Council, there is also an option of bringing officers from other Union Territories following formal establishment of Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir and Union Territory of Ladakh to overcome the shortage of IAS officers”, sources said.
They further said, “moreover, IAS officers who are actually the residents of Jammu and Kashmir but have been allotted cadre of other States, can also be adjusted in the J&K cadre in consultation with the Department of Personnel and Training as one time arrangement and this step will also be of immense help in overcoming the prevailing crisis”.
“Some remedial measures are required to be taken as early as possible otherwise situation will deteriorate in near future and in that eventuality implementation of schemes/programmes and service delivery will be a complete casualty”, sources said.
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