NEW DELHI: Days after their appointment, Jammu and Kashmir Lt Governor G C Murmu’s two advisors were Tuesday assigned the charge of different government departments.
K K Sharma and Farooq Khan were appointed as advisors to the Lt Governor on November 14 and a formal order was issued by the General Adminstration Department (GAD) the next day.
Former bureaucrat Sharma was allocated the charge of tourism; public works (roads and buildings); planning, development and monitoring; school education; higher education; technical education; and industries, an order issued by the GAD said.
Retired IPS officer Farooq Khan got food, civil supplies and consumer affairs; ARI and trainings; cooperative; floriculture; election; labour and employment; Haj and Auqaf; social welfare; tribal affairs; youth services and sports, the order read.
It said the advisors to the Lt Governor would exercise the powers of minister in respect of the departments allocated to them.
“For purposes of official correspondence, Advisors Sharma and Khan shall be designated as Advisor (S) and Advisor (F) respectively,” it said.
In respect of other departments, the order said the papers related to the GAD, Home Department and Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) shall be submitted by the respective administrative secretaries through the chief secretary to the Lt Governor.
Papers related to the All India Services (IAS, IPS and IFS) shall be submitted by the respective administrative secretaries through the General Administration Department and the chief secretary for consideration of the Lt Governor.
Administrative Council set up in J-K
The Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir has constituted an administrative council with Lt Governor G C Murmu as its chairman to discharge the functions of a government.
“Sanction is hereby accorded to the constitution of an Administrative Council, comprising the Lieutenant Governor as its ‘Chairman’ and his Advisers as Members, to dispose of the cases mentioned in ‘The Second Schedule (Amended) of the Jammu and Kashmir Government Business Rules’ or such other matters as the Lieutenant Governor may direct to be placed before it,” a government order said on Tuesday.
The order, issued by the General Administration Department, said the chief secretary shall function as secretary to the Administrative Council.
The administrative secretaries of the departments of Finance, Planning, Development and Monitoring, General Administration, Law or of any other department may be invited to the meetings of the council as may be required, the order said.
As per the second schedule (amended entries) Rule 8, the cases which shall be brought before the council include those involving legislation, including the issue of ordinances, proposals to summon or prorogue or dissolve the legislature of the state, address of governor to the legislature, cases involving the question as to whether a member of the House of the legislature of the state is subject to any disqualification.
Lt Guv directs officials to update government websites
Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Girish Chandra Murmu on Tuesday directed the administration to update all government websites by Friday, an official spokesperson said.
Murmu ordered the General Administration Department (GAD) to issue advisory to all the departments to update their respective websites with latest information and content, the spokesperson said.
To strengthen the public service delivery mechanism, the Lt Governor asked the GAD to come up with ways of delivery of citizens’ services through a mobile application, he said.
Murmu issued these directions during a series of review meetings on the functioning of IT and Science and Technology departments at the civil secretariat here, the spokesperson said.
The Lt Governor emphasised on prioritising the e-court programme, besides updating Centralized Personnel Information System (CPIS) and making it fully functional by December, the spokesperson said.
Murmu asked the officials concerned to prepare a model for connecting gram panchayats across the union territory through high speed fibre optical network, he said.
