Govt replaces Sharma with Vyas as new CS

Jammu and Kashmir government today removed Chief Secretary (CS), B R Sharma, and replaced him with senior IAS officer, Bharat Bhushan Vyas. The move came as Sharma was seen to be incapable of implementing the government policies in time.

The order to replace Sharma was issued by the general administration department after Chief Minister, Mehbooba Mufti, cleared the transfer in the cabinet meeting which was held in the morning.  He has been appointed as the Advisor (Administrative Affairs) to Chief Minister, Mehbooba Mufti.

According to sources the government was not happy with Sharma’s decision making capability even as he had superseded other senior officers including IAS officer, Arun Kumar and B B Vyas to take over as the Chief Secretary.  In September 2015, government appointed Sharma, a 1984 batch IAS officer, as the Chief Secretary.

Sharma was appointed the Chief Secretary after his predecessor Mohammad Iqbal Khandey sought voluntary retirement from service citing differences with the government over frequent transfer of senior officers. Sharma had superseding four senior officers, Arun Kumar and his wife Sonali Kumar, both 1979 batch IAS officers, A K Angurana (1980 batch) and Khursheed Ahmad Ganai (1982 batch).  A resident of Jammu division, Sharma was to retire in 2020.

However government officials said that the Sharma was not able to implement the decisions. He couldn’t take the decision to set up a policy planning board and even the implementation of the Prime Minister’s Development programme (PMDP) had been affected. Sharma’s last posting was Principal Secretary, Planning and Development department and he had earlier also held the post of Principal Secretary of the Home Department, before taking over as the Chief Secretary.

In the order for appointment of B B Vyas as Chief Secretary, the GAD has mentioned that the 986 batch IAS officer will replace Sharma with immediate effect. 

“Consequent upon the appointment, one government car shall be placed at his disposal on the following terms that all expenses relating to maintenance of the vehicle including any payment on account of taxes, will be borne by the state Government against a payment of Rs 1OO per month payable by the Chief Secretary for its use. All running expenses of the vehicle will be paid by the state Government for all official purposes and private purposes upto 500 kilometres per month. The officer shall be entitled to a fully furnished rent free Government accommodation for residential purpose,” read the order.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.