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| Wajahat formally appointed CIC Staff deputed, building hired, JK Information Commission starts working on Darbar Move | | | Early Times Report
Jammu, Oct 22: Seasoned bureaucrat and an expert hand on Jammu and Kashmir, Wajahat Habibullah was today formally appointed as State Chief Information Commissioner (SCIC) of J&K State Information Commission.
A notification to this effect vide SRO 334 was issued by the Governor NN Vohra. Accordingly a notification number GAD(adm)78/2009-V issued by the General Administration Department read as: “in exercise of the powers vested in me under sub section (3) of section 12 of the Jammu and Kashmir Right to Information Act, I, NN Vohra, Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, hereby appoint Sh Wajahat Habibullah as the State Chief Information Commissioner of the State Information Commission, constituted vide notification SRO 325 dates October 19, 2009. His appointment shall have the effect from the date he assumed the charge of the said post”.
One among the ace civil servants India produced, Habibullah has earlier on October 9 resigned as the Chief Information Commissioner of India to take over the assignment in Jammu and Kashmir on what he described as personal request of the Chief Minister Omar Abdullah. After his retirement from the Government of India, Habibullah took over as first Chief Information Commissioner of the Government of India on October 26, 2005 and manned the post until now. Before his retirement and his subsequent appointment by the President as the Chief Information Commissioner, he was Secretary to the Government of India in the Ministry of Panchayati Raj (Local Government).
A native of Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh, Habibullah joined the Indian Administrative Services in 1968 and was subsequently allotted the Jammu and Kashmir cadre. After having served at many key posts, he was the Divisional Commissioner of Kashmir between 1991 and 1993, which was abruptly terminated by a near fatal road accident, while negotiating with militants occupying the Hazratbal shrine.
A teacher of History before becoming IAS, Habibullah remained Deputy Commissioner of Poonch and Srinagar. During his last posting in J&K he was the Vice Chairman and Chief Executive of Lakes and Waterways Development Authority.
He was Director of the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration and remained at United States Institute of Peace as senior fellow focusing on resolution of Kashmir issue.
The 64 year-old Habibullah had said his experience as the first Chief Information Commissioner of India was "quite enriching" and he would use his experience while performing the new task in the State.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah’s move to bring him is seen as a filip to transparency movement in the State. After taking over as the Chief Minister in January this year, Omar listed implementation of the State’s version of Right to Information Act as one of his priorities.
Sources said that Habibullah is expected to join in Srinagar in next few days while office starts functioning upon Darbar Move in Jammu. The government is reported to have hired a building for the Information Commission somewhere in Shastri Nagar.
Ensuring that there are no lacunae in smooth functioning of the SIC, the government is already into the process of staffing the information watchdog as many officers are being sent on deputation.
An IAS officer Gazanfar Hussain Bhatt was last month posted as Secretary to the State Information Commission. He was until then Secretary in the Home Department. Mushtaq Ahmed Wani, Deputy Secretary PSC, has been posted as Deputy Secretary in the Information Commission while Rakesh Kumar has been appointed as Private Secretary in the Information Commission.
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