The Appointments Committee of Cabinet (ACC) today appointed Financial Commissioner, Finance Department J&K, Arun Kumar Mehta as the new Chief Secretary of Jammu and Kashmir.
Mehta has replaced BVR Subrahmanyam who has been appointed as Secretary in the Department of Commerce, Government of India.
“The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet, vide its order dated 27.05.2021, has approved the appointment of BVR Subrahmanyam, IAS (CG: 1987), Chief Secretary, J&K as Officer on Special Duty (OSD) in Department of Commerce, Government of India,” reads a DO issued by the Union Home Ministry.
The ACC also approved the appointment of Subrahmanyam as Secretary, Department of Commerce, upon the superannuation of the present incumbent on 30.06.2021.
“Pursuant to the aforesaid order, it has been decided with the approval of the Competent Authority that Arun Kumar Mehta, IAS (AGMUT: 1988) will take over as Chief Secretary J&K from the date that BVR Subrahmanyam relinquishes his charge, and until further orders,” the DO reads.
A 1988 Batch IAS officer from Bihar, Mehta had been empanelled as Secretary in the Central Government following clearance by the Appointment Committee of Cabinet. He is a M. Tech. and a Ph.D.
Mehta served in the Ministry of Urban Development, Power Development in J&K, Environment in GoI, Finance Department in J&K. He also remained posted as Deputy Commissioner Baramulla from 1994-97. Then he returned to Delhi where he served in the Environment Ministry and then again returned to J&K in 2003. In the Environment Ministry, he remained posted for nine years. He served in the Urban Development Ministry, Government of India, for five years.
He remained posted in different departments of Government of India for 15 years and nearly 15 years in J&K on different positions.
With the appointment of Governor Satya Pal Malik in J&K, the Government of India in 2018 repatriated Arun Kumar Mehta, who was then Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Environment & Forests and Climate Change. He was repatriated along with two other IAS officers of J&K cadre.
On his return to J&K, he was posted as the Financial Commissioner, Finance Department.