Several key positions in State administration lying vacant

Cabinet Committee to deal with transfers yet to be established
Mohinder Verma
JAMMU, Oct 24: Several key positions in the State administration have been lying vacant for the past quite some time thereby hampering the working of many departments and delaying decisions on many important aspects. This is mainly because the Government has failed to formally set-up Cabinet Committee to deal with the transfers of senior IAS and KAS officers.
Official sources told EXCELSIOR that in the State administration all the important decisions both on policy matters and financial aspects are taken by the Administrative Secretary of the concerned department in consultation with the Minister Incharge or on the directions from the Chief Minister and Chief Secretary.
Without the formal approval of the Administrative Secretary no major step can be initiated by the officers down the line vis-à-vis affairs of the department concerned. Moreover, Administrative Secretary is required to periodically review the progress of developmental works being executed by the department under his/her charge and pass necessary directions for gearing up the same to meet the objectives that too within the stipulated time-frame.
Notwithstanding these multifarious and other duties assigned to the Administrative Secretary of any department, the Government has failed to fill vacant posts of Administrative Secretaries of six key departments, sources said. At present, there is no Administrative Secretary of Revenue, Tourism, Disaster Management, Information Technology, Information and Floriculture Departments.
The posts of Administrative Secretaries of Revenue and Disaster Management Departments fell vacant early this month after the Secretary of these departments Mohammad Ashraf Mir was appointed as Information Commissioner in the State Information Commission.
Similarly, the posts of Administrative Secretaries of Tourism and Information Departments fell vacant on the superannuation of senior KAS Officer M H Malik but till date no new Administrative Secretary of these departments has been appointed by the Government. Mohammad Ashraf Mir and M H Malik were holding charge of two departments each.
Likewise, there is no Administrative Secretary of Floriculture Department, the post which is generally held by Tourism Secretary as additional charge. Moreover, there is no full-time Administrative Secretary of Information Technology Department and the charge of this department is being held by PWD Secretary Sanjeev Verma.
“Information Technology is one of those departments in Jammu and Kashmir which has witnessed frequent transfers of Administrative Secretary”, sources said, adding “the failure of the Government to provide full-time Administrative Secretary to this department is notwithstanding the fact that the then Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed had designated this department as the servicing agency for rolling out of online services in several key departments for the benefit of the people”.
It may be recalled that Mufti Mohammad Sayeed had described e-governance as the most effective tool in eliminating corruption and procedural delays from day-to-day administrative working and had assigned core e-governance projects to this department.
Not only the posts of Administrative Secretaries there are numerous other positions which have been lying vacant for the past quite some time thereby hampering the working of respective departments, sources said while disclosing that there is no full time Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of J&K Economic Reconstruction Agency (ERA) since last month.
On September 18, 2017, the Government had ordered shifting of the then CEO of ERA Vinod Sharma and accordingly assigned the charge of the post to Rohit Kansal, Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister till further orders.
Similarly, the post of Deputy Commissioner Kathua is also lying vacant since the transfer of IAS officer Ramesh Kumar as Commissioner of Jammu Municipal Corporation. Rashpal Singh, Additional Deputy Commissioner is holding the charge of the post of Deputy Commissioner Kathua in addition to his own duties. Likewise, the posts of Additional District Development Commissioners (ADDCs) have been lying vacant in many districts of Jammu and Kashmir despite the fact that ADDCs have an important role to play in monitoring of developmental works.
“The delay in filling vacant posts particularly of Administrative Secretaries is being attributed to delay in formally setting up of Cabinet Committee on transfers, which was decided in a Cabinet meeting convened on October 3”, sources said.
They further said, “though the approval to the proposal regarding establishment of Cabinet Committee on transfers was obtained by the General Administration Department from all the Cabinet Ministers by circulating the file yet no formal order regarding its set-up has been issued till date”.
A senior officer of the General Administration Department, when contacted, confirmed that Cabinet Committee on transfers was yet to be formally constituted. He, however, failed to specify any time-frame for the same. He could not even explain the reasons behind the delay despite approval by all the Cabinet Ministers.
It is pertinent to mention here that decision to establish Cabinet Committee on transfers was taken following resentment over large scale transfers and postings of the senior officers in the police and civil administration without taking Cabinet-the highest decision making body, into confidence.

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