Skandan is 4th Advisor to J&K Governor

Handled Kashmir in GoI for 5 years
Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, Jan 22: Skandan Krishnan, a retired IAS officer of 1982 batch, who was Incharge of Kashmir Division in the Government of India for five consecutive years from 2007 to 2012, will be fourth Advisor to Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik and will be allotted portfolios shortly after he takes charge of his new assignment.
Skandan, who was Tamil Nadu cadre IAS officer, had retired as Director Anna Institute of Management, Chennai on December 31, 2016.
Official sources told the Excelsior that Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh has cleared the posting of Skandan Krishnan as new Advisor to the Jammu and Kashmir Governor and his formal order of appointment will be issued shortly. President Ram Nath Kovind has also approved the appointment as the State was under the spell of President’s Rule since December 20, 2018, for a period of six months.
Skandan Krishnan has handled Jammu and Kashmir during his posting with the Government of India as Joint Secretary, Incharge of Centre-State Divisions from 2007-2012 followed by Additional Secretary Centre-State Division in 2012 during which he was also Incharge of Kashmir Division for five years.
“In view of his experience in handling the issues of Jammu and Kashmir during his posting with the Centre, he was appointed as Advisor to the Jammu and Kashmir Governor,” sources said, adding that Governor Satya Pal Malik will effect changes in portfolios of his Advisors after Skandan Krishnan takes charge of the post.
Skandan will be third retired IAS officer to be posted as the Advisor to the J&K Government. The fourth Advisor is retired IPS officer. Apart from Skandan, two other Advisors including Kewal Krishan Sharma and Khurshid Ahmad Ganai are retired IAS officers while K Vijay Kumar is retired IPS officer. Kumar was also Security Advisor in the Union Ministry of Home Affairs.
Of four Advisors of the Governor now, two are locals from Jammu and Kashmir and two from outside the State. Khurshid Ganai and Kewal Krishan Sharma belonged to Jammu and Kashmir while Vijay Kumar and Skandan Krishnan are from outside. Though Sharma hailed from Jammu, he hadn’t served in the State as he was 1983 batch IAS officer AGMUT cadre (Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Mizoram and Union Territories) and had served as Goa and Delhi Chief Secretary besides holding other prestigious posts.
After imposing Governor’s Rule in the State on June 20, 2018 following withdrawal of support to Mehbooba-Mufti led PDP-BJP coalition Government, then Governor NN Vohra had appointed three Advisors to him including BB Vyas, then Chief Secretary of the State, who was on extension after completing his retirement age, Khurshid Ahmad Ganai, who was working as Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) after retirement from the services and K Vijay Kumar, who was then Security Advisor to the Union Home Ministry after retirement as Director General of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF).
However, on November 8, 2018, Kewal Krishan Sharma was appointed fourth Advisor to Governor Satya Pal Malik, who had replaced Vohra on August 23 but on December 14, Vyas resigned as the Advisor following his appointment as member of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC).
With Skandan Krishnan’s appointment, number of the Advisors has gone up to four.
Skandan Krishnan is a Graduate from Hyderabad Nizam College, Post Graduate in Political Science from the Christian College, Madras University and also Bachelor of Law from Madras Law College.
He held various important postings in Tamil Nadu, where he served continuously for 25 years before joining the Government of India.
During the period of 25 years, some of the important assignments held by him included the first Registrar of Dr MGR Medical University in 1988; Special Officer and the Collector of Nagapattinam District in 1991-93 and the first Member Secretary of Financial Commission for Panchayats in 1994-95.
He served both as Director Agriculture and Sericulture in the years 1995 to 1997 and was Commissioner of Industries & Commerce during 2001-02. He also held the post of Secretary Industries in 2002-03 and strived to carry forward the tradition in the State of Tamil Nadu to make it a major industrial hub. He formulated the SEZ policy for the State during this period.
He was also the Chairman of Tamil Nadu Electricity Board and introduced innovative strategies and planning to reduce the transmission losses in the power sector and boost its revenue. He was also the CMD of Tamil Nadu News Print Ltd in 2003 and played an important role in the modernization of the unit and export marketing of its products.
He had also served in the social sector as Managing Director of Tamil Nadu Corporation for Development of Women Ltd.