In the absence of business rules, Omar Abdullah faces an uphill battle to define turf in J&K
As the elected government completed one month in Jammu and Kashmir, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah’s battle to define his turf in the Union Territory (UT) remains a tough task. Multiple back-and-forth meetings of the Cabinet sub-committee and senior bureaucrats are yet to finalise the business rules of at least eight departments, top official sources said.
An elected government took over reins in J&K on October 16 after a gap of ten years. Official sources said the key departments like Revenue, Law and Information are among eight departments out of over 30 departments that are finalising its business rules as per the J&K Reorganisation Act, introduced after the Centre reduced J&K into a UT in 2019.
According to the Act, the anti-corruption bodies and Law and Public Order solely remains under the Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha. The Act granted sweeping powers to the L-G in J&K over the executive. According to Section 55(1) of the Act, the L-G “shall make rules on the advice of the Council of Ministers for the allocation of business to the Ministers; and for the more convenient transaction of business with the Ministers including the procedure to be adopted in case of a difference of opinion between the Lieutenant Governor and the Council of Ministers or a Minister.”
Mr. Abdullah is yet to chair meetings of many departments so far, indicating he awaits finalisation of these business rules, which needs to be approved by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) first. Official sources said the delay in business rules may be impacting the governance issues in J&K, “but needs to be carefully looked into to avoid any collision course between the offices of the Chief Minister and the L-G”. Sources said the draft of business rules are likely to be finalised this week and will be shared with the MHA for approval.
Once finalised, the business rules are likely to have a major impact on the structure of bureaucracy in J&K, as most current directors of departments like Information and Tourism, who are from the Indian Administrative Services IAS cadre, may have to vacate for local officers from the Kashmir Administrative Service (KAS).
A turf war is already in sight, in absence of business rules, with L-G Manoj Sinha taking review of governance issues in J&K. On October 25, Mr. Sinha held “on-site inspection and reviewed the progress of key infrastructure and Smart City projects of Srinagar”. On November 17, the Lt. Governor, during a meeting in Jammu, directed the Deputy Commissioners “to take comprehensive measures for expansion of public outreach programmes and 100% saturation of all government schemes”.
The National Conference government is tight lipped about the delay in business rules. Commenting on completing one month of governance in J&K, NC leader and MLA Zadibal Tanvir Sadiq said the Omar Abdullah government was “launching initiatives that will benefit the people”. He assured that all the promises outlined in the party manifesto “would be kept”. “The government passed the special status resolution in the Assembly with an overwhelming majority and the Cabinet passed a resolution on reinstating Statehood to J&K,” Mr. Sadiq said.
However, the Kashmir University’s move to hold interviews for the posts of assistant professors again reflected a difference between the L-G office and the J&K government. The KU on November 11 postponed interviews of the shortlisted candidates for Assistant Professor positions at the varsity, scheduled for November 11-14, 2024, citing “administrative issues.” A fresh notification, however, decided to have interviews on November 20, 2024 at the Vice-Chancellor’s Secretariat”. Official sources said the J&K government was opposed to holding interviews by the outgoing VC, who is retiring in January. The fresh notice violated the KU rules, where members of the selection committee were supposed to be informed 10 days in advance. The rules also bars the VC from holding interviews with only five months of tenure left. The move has posed a major challenge to L-G Sinha, who is chancellor of the university.
