JK govt orders inquiry into misconduct of IAS officer

Srinagar: The Jammu and Kashmir government on Friday ordered an in-depth inquiry into alleged misconduct by IAS officer Kumar Rajeev Ranjan with a female JKAS officer earlier this week.

A government order issued by the General Administration Department (GAD) said 2004-batch IAS officer and Commissioner-Secretary to the Housing and Urban Development Department Mandeep Kaur has been appointed as the inquiry officer. She has been asked to submit her report within 15 days from the issuance of the order, it said.

Additional Secretary, GAD, Amit Vermani, has been appointed as the presenting officer in the matter, according to the order. Ranjan, Administrative Secretary, Labour and Employment Department, courted controversy after he allegedly used abusive language against Assistant Director (Employment), Ganderbal, Beenish Wani, over the role of the National Rural Livelihood Mission during a review meeting earlier this week.

Taking note of the alleged verbal abuse of a woman Jammu and Kashmir Administrative Service (JKAS) officer by a senior IAS officer in “strongest possible terms”, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Friday said the senior bureaucrat’s conduct prima facie was not in keeping with the expected standards. Taking to X, Abdullah said he has instructed the chief secretary to ensure that the JKAS does not face any retribution after senior IAS officer Kumar Rajeev Ranjan allegedly threatened to recommend her dismissal from service.

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The Hans India