Rajya Sabha Passes Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, 2021

It seeks to merge the existing cadre for India Services Officers of J&K with those of Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Mizoram, and Union Territory (AGMUT) cadre. This shall enable the Government to depute IAS, IPS officers etc. from other Union Territories to the UT of J&K.

The Bill, already in force as an Ordinance, was introduced in the House on February 4 by Minister of State for Home, G. Kishan Reddy.

As per the Statement of objects and reasons annexed to the Bill,

"There is a huge deficiency of the officers of All India Services in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. The developmental schemes, centrally sponsored schemes and other allied activities suffer due to non-availability of All India Officers in the existing cadres of the Jammu and Kashmir as such there is a requirement of merging it with Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Mizoram, Union territories cadre so that the officers in this cadre can be posted in the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir to meet out any deficiency to some extent."

Parliamentary Debate

During discussion on the Bill, many Members asked the Government about its plans to restore the status of 'State' to Jammu and Kashmir.

Significantly, when Article 370 of the Indian Constitution was abrogated by the J&K Reorganisation Act, 2019, the Central Government had lent assurances that it will grant statehood to J&K after development works and restoration of normalcy.

Referring to this, MP for Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Democratic Party, Mir Mohd Fayaz, said that the instant Bill is an attempt to further strengthen the UT structure.

The Government however claimed that the Bill will solve the issue of All India Service officers in the two UTs and will help the Government to meet temporary shortage of officers at different places.

Salient Features

The Bill seeks to amend Section 88 of the J&K Reorganisation Act, 2019.

This provision prescribed that members of the cadres of IAS, IPS and IFS for the existing State of J&K shall continue to function on the existing cadres in the newly formed UTs.

The Bill seeks to amend this provision and make the existing a cadre a part of the Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Mizoram and Union territories cadre. Consequently, all future allocations of All India Services Officers for the UT of J&K and UT of Ladakh shall be made to Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Mizoram and Union territories cadre.

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