Though legislators cease the right to intervene in policy decisions and transfers and postings of officers and officials in any state of the country where governor’s rule is in force and assembly is in suspended animation but in Jammu & Kashmir the unwarranted intervention of legislators is allowed even during governor’s rule when assembly is in suspended animations. Undeniable fact is that the administrative secretaries transfer officers and officials at the directorates and in districts on the recommendations of legislators of the concerned districts. Before the take over by new governor Satya Pal Malik the former Governor N N Vohra had taken a strong note of the violation of the given procedures and the intervention of legislators in the transfers of the officers and officials at the directorates and in districts by the concerned administrative secretaries without the approval of the governor’s advisors holding the charge of concerned departments and General Administration Department (GAD) had directed all the administrative secretaries to rescind all such orders which have been issued without the approved of the governor’s advisors holding the charge of the concerned department but barring one or two exceptions many administrative secretaries while taking undue advantage of the change of guard in the Raj Bhavan have not bothered to adhere to the government’s directions on transfers ordered without the approval of the advisors holding the charge of the concerned departments. The silence of the new governor Satya Pal Malik over the delay caused in rescinding transfer orders of officers and officials issued without the necessary approval of the governor’s advisors holding the charge of concerned departments have emboldened most of the administrative secretaries to the extent that they take recommendations from the legislators on transfers and postings of officers and officials and surprisingly bypass governor’s advisors holding the charge of concerned departments.
It is the institutional and administrative responsibility of the governor’s advisors to ensure that administrative secretaries don’t hijack their power for the purposes of political appeasement and responsibility of overseeing the administrative accountability of administrative secretaries also lies on the governor also .
Hijacking the powers of advisors by governor’s advisors has not been notice and taken serious by the new governor which has created an institutional and administrative mess in the directorate offices and districts. Unfortunately the governor’s advisors has restricted their activities to conduct of public hearings and fields and don’t attend administrative matter concerning the transfers of officers and officials in the directorate and district offices. It is the institutional and administrative responsibility of the governor’s advisors to ensure that administrative secretaries don’t hijack their power for the purposes of political appeasement and responsibility of overseeing the administrative accountability of administrative secretaries also lies on the governor also .
