Jaan Mohammed
Jammu, (DD):In a significant administrative move, the Jammu and Kashmir government has ordered the transfer and fresh postings of 96 officers from the Jammu and Kashmir Administrative Services (JKAS). This large-scale reshuffle follows a recent confrontation between Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah over administrative control, which had sparked political tensions earlier this month. The move is widely seen as an effort to streamline governance, accelerate public service delivery, and reaffirm the authority of the elected government.
The Jammu and Kashmir government has issued Government Order No. 534-JK(GAD) of 2025, dated 29 April 2025, effecting the immediate transfer and posting of 96 JKAS officers. The reshuffle aims to enhance administrative efficiency and expedite service delivery across a wide spectrum of government departments.
The transfers span critical sectors including Public Works, Rural Development, Health, Education, Tourism, Finance, and General Administration. Senior officers such as Rakesh Magotra, Naseer Ahmad Wani, Vir Krishan Dhar, Dhanantra Singh, Sonali Arun Gupta, and Atul Gupta are among those assigned new responsibilities in this wide-ranging administrative overhaul.
This development comes in the wake of a politically sensitive episode earlier this month, when the unilateral transfer of 48 mid-level JKAS officers by Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha provoked a standoff with Chief Minister Omar Abdullah’s administration. The National Conference (NC), Congress, Aam Aadmi Party, and several independent MLAs rallied behind the Chief Minister, asserting the primacy of the elected government. “Don’t take our friendliness for weakness,” NC’s chief spokesperson Tanvir Sadiq warned following an all-party meeting on 4 April.
While Omar Abdullah had previously avoided public confrontations, the LG’s intervention in what the elected government considers its administrative domain sparked significant concern. The Chief Minister subsequently penned a strongly worded letter to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, accusing the LG of exceeding his constitutional remit and violating the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019.
At the core of the friction lies a lack of clarity over the division of powers between the LG and the elected government. While the 2019 Act confers sweeping authority on the LG in areas such as law and order, policing, and anti-corruption, the elected administration contends that day-to-day administrative functions—including JKAS postings—fall within its exclusive domain. The Abdullah government has since drafted new business rules to formally demarcate these roles, though they await ratification by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs.
Sources within the NC reveal that the party even considered seeking judicial intervention by moving the Supreme Court to demand the restoration of full statehood and administrative autonomy. The Centre, meanwhile, maintains that statehood will be restored at an “appropriate time”, though no definitive timeline has been provided.
The latest round of transfers and postings is seen as a conciliatory yet assertive step by the elected government to reclaim control over the bureaucratic apparatus. It also signals a renewed focus on governance reforms, as Jammu and Kashmir inches cautiously toward potential restoration of statehood.
The reshuffle covers a wide range of senior positions, including Special Secretaries, Additional Secretaries, Chief Executive Officers of Tourism Development Authorities, District Registrars, Deputy Commissioners of State Taxes, Project Officers, and District Employment Officers. Several officers who had been awaiting placement within the General Administration Department have now been entrusted with key assignments.
This sweeping administrative reorganisation is being closely watched as a test case for the evolving power-sharing dynamics in Jammu and Kashmir’s complex political landscape.(DD)
