SRINAGAR: Chief minister Omar Abdullah is learnt to have given his nod to senior-most Kashmiri IAS officer Iqbal Khanday taking over as the new chief secretary of Jammu & Kashmir following the posting of Madhav Lal as secretary, Union government. If appointed, Khanday, a 1978 batch IAS officer, would become fifth Kashmiri chief secretary of the state.
Lal, who has been secretary at the Centre, is likely to join the government by the end of January. Although two other 1978 batch IAS officers, including Anil Goswami and Pankaj Jain, are also in line, the Omar government has tacitly agreed on having a Kashmiri Muslim Iqbal Khanday as the chief secretary. The reasoning is this might help the ruling party in the run-up to the assembly elections in 2014.
If selected, Khanday will follow in the footsteps Vijay Bakaya, Sheikh Ghulam Rasool, Nasrullah and Noor Mohammad. According to sources, the Centre, too, has approved the name of Khanday for the post. Apparently, the tardy bureaucracy has not gone down well with both the Centre and the state government and Khanday's elevation could speed things up for Omar as he braces for tough elections.
Goswami and Jain are in Central deputation. Although Goswami, who is special secretary, home, is from Jammu, the National Conference government considers Khanday more of a key appointment.
J&K likely to have fifth Kashmiri CS
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J&K likely to have fifth Kashmiri CS
