Senior IAS officer resigns in J-K, likely to join politics

Senior IAS officer Farooq Ahmad Shah has resigned from service in Jammu and Kashmir, officials said, amid reports that he is likely to join the National Conference ahead of the Lok Sabha and state Assembly elections.

Shah, a 2004-batch IAS officer, who was presently posted as Secretary Public Health Engineering, Irrigation and flood control with additional charge of administrative secretary, department of disaster management, relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction, has applied for voluntary retirement from service, officials said.

IAS officer Khurshid Ahmad Shah was given assignment of the charge of the posts held by Farooq Ahmad Shah with immediate effect, an order issued by the General Administration Department said.

Over the past couple of days, there have been reports that Faroq Ahmad Shah, 57, is likely to resign from the government service and planning to join the NC ahead of the upcoming elections.

On Jan 9, IAS officer Shah Faesal, who has been in the limelight since becoming the first Kashmiri to top the exam in 2009, resigned from service and said he would not join any mainstream political parties "as of now", or separatist Hurriyat Conference, but would be happy to contest the upcoming parliamentary elections.

Meanwhile, the Jammu and Kashmir administration Wednesday ordered transfer and postings of 43 more officers including 33 officers of the Kashmir Administrative Service (KAS) and one Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer.

This is the second major reshuffle in the administration within two days. On Tuesday, the administration ordered transfers and postings of 10 IAS and 24 KAS officers, replacing 11 deputy commissioners across the state.