List of top bureaucrats, officers holding more than one post pile up
SRINAGAR: Adhocism has become part and parcel of governance in Jammu & Kashmir as the list of top bureaucrats and officers holding more than one post is piling up.
Details lying with the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO)reveal that more than 10 Indian Administrative Service(IAS) officers in the Union Territory are holding additional charge of different departments and institutions due to shortage of manpower at the top level in administration. The Centre’s move to depute IAS and group “A” service officers to the newly carved-out Union Territory seems to have done little to do away with the additional charge system, which has been afflicting governance for decades in the UT.
According to details, Shaleen Kabra, Principal Secretary Home, is also discharging responsibilities as Principal Secretary, Revenue department and Financial Commissioner, Revenue.
Dheeraj Gupta, Principal Secretary, Housing & Urban Development Department, is also holding additional assignment of Principal Resident Commissioner, J&K, New Delhi.
Naveen Choudhary, Principal Secretary, Animal & Sheep Husbandry department, is also holding charge of administrative secretary of Agriculture Production & Farmers Welfare department and Horticulture department.
Rohit Kansal, Principal Secretary, Power Development Department, is holding additional charge of administrative secretary, Information Department.
Manoj Dwivedi, Commissioner Secretary, General Administration Department, is also holding additional charge of administrative secretary, Mining department.
Hirdesh Kumar, Chief Electoral Officer, is also entrusted with the additional responsibility of administrative secretary of Transport department after the Election Commission of India gave nod for it.
Sarita Chouhan, Commissioner Secretary, Labour and Employment department, is also holding the post of Chairman Special Tribunal.
MM Raju, Commissioner Secretary, Jal Shakti department, is also holding other assignments including administrative secretary of Estates and Civil Aviation departments.
Simrandeep Singh, administrative secretary, Department of Disaster, Relief, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction, is also discharging responsibilities as administrative secretary Information Technology department. He is also Chief Executive Officer, Jammu and Kashmir e-governance Agency.
Shahid Choudhary, who was recently posted as administrative secretary Tribal Affairs department, is also looking after assignments of Mission Youth and Skill Development Mission.
Sushma Chouhan, administrative secretary Higher Education department, is also holding additional charge of administrative secretary, Planning Development and Monitoring Department.
Sarmad Hafeez, administrative secretary, Tourism Department, is also holding additional charge of administrative secretary, Department of Culture.
Prasana Ramaswamy G, Director, Census Operation, is also holding charge of Managing Director, Jammu Power Distribution Corporation Limited.
Kumar Rajeev Ranjan, additional secretary, Revenue department, is also holding additional charge of Chief Executive Officer, Jammu and Kashmir Land Records Management Agency.
Syed Abid Rashid, Special Secretary, Finance department, is also holding two more posts – chief executive officer Jammu and Kashmir Economic Reconstruction Agency (JKERA) and Mission Director Jal Jeevan Mission(JJM).
A senior official in J&K administration told KNO that severe shortage of IAS officers in the UT is primarily responsible for the additional charge system.
Earlier this year, the Centre merged IAS, IPS and IFS cadre of J&K with Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Mizoram & Union Territories(AGMUT) cadre due to dearth of All India Service(AIS) officers in the UT.