B R Sharma is new Chief Secy of J&K, supersedes four officers

Superseding four IAS officers, B R Sharma was today appointed as the Chief Secretary of Jammu and Kashmir, a post which had fallen vacant after Iqbal Khanday sought voluntary retirement following differences with Mufti Mohammed Sayeed-led PDP-BJP alliance.
"The Cabinet which met here under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed today approved the appointment of B R Sharma as the Chief Secretary," an official spokesperson said.
Born on April 27, 1960, the 1984-batch officer will have one of the longest tenures as the Chief Secretary of the state if he continues in the office till his superannuation.
The last post he held was Principal Secretary, Planning and Development Department of Jammu and Kashmir. He has also held the post of Principal Secretary of the Home Department.

Sharma was the Chief Election Officer of the state during the 2008 Assembly elections, which were held immediately after the Amarnath Land row agitation in the state.
With elevation of Sharma to the top post in the state, the government has superseded four officers in the cadre -- Dr Arun Kumar and his wife Sonali Kumar (both 1979 batch), Khursheed Ahmed Ganai (1982 batch) and A K Angurana (1980 batch).

While Kumar has his services upto December next year, his wife will retire in November this year. Ganai will superannuate in October this year while Angurana is to retire in April next year.

Kumar is at present Financial Commissioner of Revenue department while his wife is Chairperson of J&K Special Tribunal. Ganai is Financial Commissioner of Industries and Commerce while Angurana is at present on deputation to Centre.
None of them was willing to comment about their future course of action.
Sharma, who has two post-graduate degrees besides an LLB degree, has held several key posts in the government during his more than three decade long service. He has also served in Ministry of Human Resources and Department of Atomic Energy at the Centre.
Khanday had sought voluntary retirement when the Chief Minister was away from the state. He reportedly had differences with the style of functioning of the government and had alleged that his officers were being transfered quite frequently.

He was given farewell on August 31 and the state government accepted his resignation a day later.