Arun Kumar Mehta | File Photo
Sameer Dar
Srinagar: The government of India on Thursday named Arun Kumar Mehta as the new Chief Secretary of Jammu and Kashmir replacing B.V.R. Subrahmanyam, who has been appointed as Officer on Special Duty (OSD) in the Commerce Ministry.
In an order issued on Thursday, Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla stated that Mehta will take over as Chief Secretary, J-K from the date Subrahmanyam relinquishes the charge, and until further orders.
“The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC), vide its order dated 27.05.2021, has approved the appointment of B.V.R. Subrahmanyam, IAS (CG: 1987), Chief Secretary, Jammu & Kashmir (J&K), as Officer on Special Duty (OSD) in the Department of Commerce, Government of India.
The ACC has also approved his appointment as Secretary, Department of Commerce, upon the superannuation of the present incumbent on 30.06.2021,” reads the order.
Pursuant to the order, the order said that it has been decided with the approval of the Competent Authority that Arun Kumar Mehta, IAS (AGMUT: 1988) will take over as Chief Secretary, J&K from the date that B.V.R. Subrahmanyam relinquishes the charge, and until further orders.
“Orders to this effect may be issued by the Government of Jammu & Kashmir,” the order added.
Mehta, a 1988-batch IAS officer, was at present the financial commissioner J&K.
Although now the Jammu and Kashmir cadre has been merged with the AGMUT, Mehta has served in the union territory for long and is seen as a welcome change by officials as he is considered as an insider and aware about the problems.
Subrahmanyam, a 1987-batch IAS officer of Chhattisgarh cadre, had taken over as the Chief Secretary of Jammu and Kashmir in June 2018, and during his tenure J&K’s special status was scrapped in 2019.
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