In order to distribute the assets and liabilities of Jammu and Kashmir between the newly formed Union territories of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh, the Union government has constituted a committee of three members. It is an advisory committee.
As per the official notification, Defence Secretary Sanjay Mitra will be the chairman of the committee. While retired Indian Civil Accounts Service (ICAS) officer Giriraj Prasad Gupta and retired Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Arun Goyal will be its other members. It is expected that the proposed committee will help in chalking out the logistical and administrative roadmap for the new UT’s.
The Union territories will come into its existence on 31 October. It is also expected that the delimitation exercise will begin after 31 October. The committee has been set up under Section 84 and Section 85 of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019.
Section 84 of the Act says that the assets and liabilities of the erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir state have to be distributed among the 2 Union territories. Section 85 of the Act says that the central government can constitute one or more committees to look into the matters of apportionment of assets, rights, and liabilities of the companies and corporations for newly created Union territories.
Centre had introduced the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization Bill 2019 in the parliament to bifurcate the former state into 2 Union territories. The bill was also accompanied by the repeal of Article 370 in the same session.
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