SRINAGAR: Four advisors to J&K’s former Lieutenant Governor Girish Chandra Murmu would continue as advisors to his successor Manoj Kumar Sinha unless replaced by the Government of India, sources disclosed.
Highly placed sources in the administration told news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO) that the replacement of LG would not impact the advisors appointed by the Ministry of Home Affairs in Jammu and Kashmir Union Territory.
“Their appointing authority is Ministry of Home Affairs. It is clearly written in the orders issued by MHA that they are advisors to J&K’s LG and not as advisors to GC Murmu. So there is no need to issue fresh orders for appointing them as advisors,” they said.
According to them, the LG of UT had only issued orders relating to their terms and conditions of the appointment.
“The Lt Governor of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir is requested to issue necessary orders with regard to the terms and conditions of his appointment under intimation to this ministry,” reads the orders issued by MHA for appointing advisors, a copy of which is with KNO.
It is worthwhile to mention that IPS officer Farooq Khan and IAS officer K K Sharma were retained as advisors after Murmu took over as the first LG of Jammu and Kashmir in 2019.
Former CRPF DG Rajiv Rai Bhatnagar, a 1983-batch officer of the Uttar Pradesh cadre, was appointed as the advisor to the Lt Governor on January 5, 2020.
In March this year, Baseer Khan, an IAS officer, was appointed as advisor to LG to give representation to Kashmir in decision-making.
According to sources, there is no question of any politician being appointed as advisor to LG. “The government cannot handpick any politician and appoint him as advisor,” they said.