Positions lying vacant

26/04/2018

The PDP-BJP Coalition Government is facing crisis at the highest level in the bureaucracy as over half a dozen posts of Administrative Secretaries among nine key positions have been lying vacant while as there is an ad hoc arrangement for six other important departments in the Civil Secretariat during the past some months. The prevailing situation, which is the outcome of inability of the Government to take timely decision, has left adverse impact on the functioning of these departments as Administrative Secretaries and Heads of the Departments are supposed to take final decision on all important aspects. The posts of Administrative Secretaries of ARI, Trainings and Office Supplies, Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Culture, Disaster Management, Relief, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction and Cooperative Departments fell vacant on January 31, 2018 following superannuation of five IAS officers. Despite being aware of the fact that five IAS officers will attain superannuation on January 31, 2018 no step was taken in advance by the Government so as to immediately post new officers on these posts and even after their retirement no seriousness was shown by the Government as a result of which the posts of Administrative Secretaries of these departments are still lying vacant despite lapse of two and half month".
The crisis at the highest level in the State's bureaucracy deepened further on March 31, 2018 when two more IAS officers holding the posts of Administrative Secretaries of Social Welfare and Agriculture Production Departments attained superannuation. Due to this the number of vacant posts of Administrative Secretaries has risen to seven. Moreover, the Government is managing the affairs of six key departments through ad hoc arrangements due to dearth of eligible officers for the posts of Administrative Secretaries and Finance Secretary NavinChoudhary is holding the additional charge of the post of Chairman of Bureau of Public Enterprises during the past quite long time. As per the rules, IAS officers of up to 2005 batch are currently eligible for the posts of Administrative Secretaries. However, at present the Government doesn't have All India Service officers who fulfill this eligibility thereby leading to the peculiar situation. During 1996, 1998 and 2000, no IAS officer was allotted J&K cadre which is one of the contributing factors to the dearth of eligible officers for the posts of Administrative Secretaries at present. Similarly, there was no batch of Jammu and Kashmir Administrative Services (KAS) during the period between 1984 and 1999, which is why there is a crisis of inducted KAS officers as well.

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