As Jammu and Kashmir is being bifurcated on Thursday, IAS, IPS and other central service officers of J-K cadre will continue to serve in the two succeeding Union Territories (UTs) while new recruits of these services will be allocated in the AGMUT cadre.
According to the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019, the provincial service officers will continue serving in their current positions till a new order is issued by the Lt Governors for the two new UTs of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.
"In future, the All India Service officers to be posted to Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir or Union Territory of Ladakh, as the case may be, shall be borne on the Arunachal, Goa, Mizoram Union Territory (AGMUT) cadre, and necessary modifications in corresponding cadre allocations rules may be made accordingly, by the central government," according to the Act approved by both Houses of Parliament in August.
The Act provides for creation of two UTs — Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh and the two UTs will come into existence on October 31.
While UT Jammu and Kashmir will have a legislature like Puducherry, Ladakh will be a UT without a legislature like Chandigarh.
Expenditure Secretary Girish Chandra Murmu and former defence secretary Radha Krishna Mathur have been appointed the new Lieutenant Governors of Jammu-Kashmir and Ladakh respectively.
The Arunachal Goa Mizoram Union Territory is popularly known as AGMUT.
The Act says the cadres of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Police Service (IPS) and Indian Forest Service (IFoS) for the existing state of Jammu and Kashmir, on and from the appointed day (October 31), shall continue to function on the existing cadres.
The Lt Governor, the Act says, will decide about the provisional strength, composition and allocation of officers once the two new UTs are formed and notified.
Talking about these provisions for "other services", the Act says "every person who immediately before the appointed day is serving on substantive basis in connection with the affairs of the existing state of Jammu and Kashmir shall, on and from that day provisionally continue to serve in connection with the affairs of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir and Union territory of Ladakh, by general or special order of the Lieutenant Governor of Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir."
It says the state government employees will be able to "seek option" to serve in either of the two UTs of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh and this transfer will be "determined" by the Lt Governor.
The Act says the "Central government shall have the power to review any of its orders issued under this section".
It also talks about the future of the public service commission that will function in the two UTs and recruit provincial service officials for the administration.
"The Public Service Commission for the existing state of Jammu and Kashmir shall, on and from the appointed day, be the Public Service Commission for the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir."
"The Union Public Service Commission, with the approval of the President, shall serve the needs of the Union Territory of Ladakh".
The central government on August 5 had announced the abrogation of the special status given to Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 and bifurcation of the state into two UTs — Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.
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