Sharma, Khan appointed advisors to Lt Guv Murmu

TNN Bureau. Updated: 11/15/2019 10:51:05 AM Front Page

JAMMU: Ending speculations rife over past two weeks, the Centre on Thursday appointed former bureaucrat K K Sharma and retired IPS officer Farooq Khan as the advisors to the Lieutenant Governor of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
“The advisors will assist LG Girish Chandra Murmu in the administrative work,” said an official order of the Union Home Ministry, adding that the appointments of Khan and Sharma will be effective from the day of their joining in their respective posts.
Both Sharma and Khan, along with K Vijay Kumar, Khursheed Ganai, and K Skandan had served as the Advisors to last Governor Satya Pal Malik.
However, with the federal status of Jammu and Kashmir being lowered on October 31, their services had also come to an end with the abolition of the post of Governor and the Centre had to appoint the Advisors afresh for the Lieutenant Governor Murmu.
Expect Farooq, who is a retired IPS officer of 1994 batch, all the other Advisors were seniors in service to the new Lt Governor and there were speculations that they would not be appointed as Advisors to Lt Governor.
However, on Thursday, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs appointed Farooq and Sharma as the advisors to Murmu.
Khan, 65, started his career in the Jammu and Kashmir Police as a sub-inspector in 1984 and went on to become inspector general of police. He is seen as being instrumental in breaking the backbone of militancy in the 1990s.
He is expected to focus on security and strategic affairs in keeping with the work he has done in the state in the past.
Khan enjoys the confidence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah and is likely to make changes in strategies to curb militancy in the state.
Khan, who had also served as the administrator in the union territory of Lakshadweep, came into the limelight when he volunteered to head a special task force (STF) of the police in 1994 at a time when morale of the force was low and operations were being carried out by the Army and the BSF. He was allotted the IPS in 1994.
Khan, who hails from Poonch district, was deputy inspector general of the Jammu region and led crack teams to end a seige laid by militants at the famous Raghunath Temple in 2003.
After his retirement in 2013, Khan joined the BJP in 2014.
A recipient of the President's police medal for the meritorious service and many commendations by the army and other security agencies, Khan's entry into the BJP was seen as a move to woo Muslim voters in Poonch and Rajouri areas.
His grandfather Colonel (retd) Peer Mohammad Khan, who was in the Army of Maharaja Hari Singh, was the first state president of the Jammu and Kashmir Jana Sangh.
The other advisor, Sharma, a 1983-batch IAS officer of the Arunachal Pradesh, Goa and Mizoram Union Territories (AGMUT) cadre, belongs to Billawar town of Kathua.
During his service career spanning around 30 years, Sharma, 61, has held various positions, including the Chief Secretary of Delhi and Goa.
He also served as Secretary in the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) before his retirement. Sharma has also served as advisor to the administrator of Chandigarh.
He is known to have played a key role in implementing flagship projects in Delhi in the areas of education and health.


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