New Rules For J&K

New Rules For J&K

• The Union Home Ministry notified new rules for administration in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir ( J&K) that specify the functions of the lieutenant governor (L­G) and the Council of Ministers
• According to the transaction of business rules, “police, public order, All India Services, and anti­corruption” will fall under the executive functions of the L­G, implying that the Chief Minister or the Council of Ministers will have no say in their functioning. 
• The proposals or matters which affect or are likely to affect peace and tranquillity or the interest of any minority community, the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes, and the Backward Classes “shall essentially be submitted to the Lieutenant Governor through the Chief Secretary, under intimation to the Chief Minister, before issuing any orders”.
• The Council of Ministers, led by the CM, will decide service matters of non­All India Services officers, proposal to impose a new tax, land revenue, sale grant or lease of government property, reconstituting departments, or offices and draft legislation.
• However, in case of difference of opinion between the L­G and a Minister, when no agreement could be reached even after a month, the “decision of the Lieutenant Governor shall be deemed to have been accepted by the Council of Ministers”, the rules note. 
• Under the rules, there will be 39 departments in the UT, such as school education, agriculture, higher education, horticulture, election, general administration, home, mining, power, Public Works Department, tribal affairs, and transport.
• The rules say all communications received from the Centre, including those from the Prime Minister and other Ministers, other than those of a routine or unimportant character, shall, as soon as possible after their receipt, be submitted by the Secretary to the Chief Secretary, the Minister in charge, the Chief Minister and the L­G for information
• On August 6, 2019, Parliament read down Article 370 of the Constitution revoking the special status of J&K and bifurcated and downgraded the State into the Union Territories of J&K and Ladakh, with the former having a Legislative Assembly

Source: The Hindu