52 officers shifted in major J&K bureaucracy shake-up

In a major bureaucratic reshuffle, the government of Jammu and Kashmir transferred 52 officials across various departments on Wednesday. The transferred officials include two Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers while the rest belong to various cadre of the state's provincial services.

The transfers were issued through two separate orders by the General Administration Department of the Jammu and Kashmir government.

Bipul Pathak, a 1992-batch IAS officer, has been posted as Principal Secretary in the Social Welfare Department. Similarly, Niraj Kumar, a 2010-batch IAS officer, has been transferred as Additional Secretary to the same department from the department of Technical Education.

Pathak will also hold the additional charge of Administrative Secretary in the IT and Science & Technology Departments as also as CEO of the Jammu and Kashmir E-Governance Agency.

Till now, Rigzian Sampheal, a 2003-batch IAS officer had been holding additional charge at the helm of affairs in these two departments. Sampheal, at present, holds the post of Commissioner-cum-Secretary in the Ladakh Affairs Department.

The first set of order issued by the General Administration department contained the names of Bipul Pathak (IAS) and 23 Kashmir Administrative Services officers. The second order contained the names of Niraj Kumar (IAS) and 27 other officers belonging to the state services.