New Delhi: IAS officer Girish Chandra Murmu has been appointed the first Lieutenant-Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, a statement from President Ram Nath Kovind's office said on Friday. Radha Krishna Mathur has been named as the Lieutenant-Governor of Ladakh. The two Union Territories were created after the bifurcation of the state of Jammu and Kashmir on August 5.
Murmu, a 1985-batch Gujarat cadre officer who hails from Odisha, is serving as the Expenditure Secretary in the Union Finance Ministry and was principal secretary to Narendra Modi during his tenure as Gujarat chief minister. Holding a degree in Business Administration from the Birmingham University, Murmu is perceived as one of the most trusted serving bureaucrats in the Union government.
Murmu, who was set to retire from service next month, will be administered oath of office on October 31 in Srinagar after which he will be the administrative head of Kashmir and Jammu provinces. The state's third province — Ladakh — has been carved out as a separate Union Territory.
Mathur, a 1977-batch officer of the Tripura cadre, has served as the defence secretary and is a former Chief Information Commissioner (CIC). The 65-year-old bureaucrat retired as chief information commissioner last year and will be administered oath of office on October 31 in Leh.
Satya Pal Malik, the Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, has been appointed as the Governor of Goa. Malik was first appointed governor of Bihar in September 2017 and later shifted to Jammu and Kashmir in August last year.
Malik succeeds Mridula Sinha, who completed her five-year tenure in August but continued to hold the post till October 23.
With the appointment of Murmu, the tenure of advisors to the Jammu and Kashmir Governor — K Vijay Kumar, Khursheed Ganai, K Sikandan and KK Sharma — may come to an end as all of them are seniors in service to the new L-G.
The appointments come ahead of the state being formally classified as a Union Territory on October 31.
The state was divided into two Union Territories – Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh – when the BJP-led central government stripped it of its special status and the reorganisation act will come into effect on October 31. The swearing-in ceremony of the new L-G is likely to take place on the same date.
Once J&K becomes a Union Territory, the Centre will be in direct control of law and order and police through the L-G, while land will be a subject under the elected government there. Land — the rights in or over it — will be with the elected government of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, unlike in Delhi where the L-G exercises control.
In another appointment, BJP Kerala unit president PS Sreedharan Pillai has been named the new governor of Mizoram, the Rashtrapati Bhawan statement added. Assam Governor Jagdish Mukhi has been holding the additional charge of Mizoram.
"The above appointments will take effect from the dates they assume charge of their respective offices," the statement added.
In another order, former Intelligence Bureau (IB) chief and Union government-appointed interlocutor to Jammu and Kashmir, Dineshwar Sharma, has been moved to Lakshadweep as the administrator, as per an order issued by the Union Home Ministry.
(With inputs from agencies)
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