Chhattisgarh-cadre IAS officer BVR Subrahmanyam appointed new Jammu and Kashmir Chief Secretary

Vyas, who was last month given one-year extension in service, has been appointed adviser to Governor NN Vohra. Former IPS officer Vijay Kumar will be another adviser to the Governor, it said.

Jammu and Kashmir was today put under the Governor's rule after the three-year old PDP-BJP coalition government collapsed yesterday. The state Assembly has been put under suspended animation.

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved that the services of Subrahmanyam, a 1987-batch IAS officer of the Chhattisgarh cadre, is placed at the disposal of the Jammu and Kashmir government, an order issued by the Union Personnel Ministry has said.

Subrahmanyam is at present the additional chief secretary (Home) in Chhattisgarh.

Vyas was last month given a one-year extension in service, beyond May 31, 2018, as the chief secretary of the state.

The Personnel Ministry has also amended the service rules to provide extension to Vyas beyond 60 years of age of superannuation. Till the new rule came into force, the state chief secretary retired on attaining the age of 60 years.

Vyas, who was due to superannuate in November last year, was given two extensions of three months each till May-end, to remain the chief secretary.

The extension was given apparently on the request of Mehbooba Mufti, who resigned as the state Chief Minister yesterday.

Subrahmanyam, considered an expert in internal security matters, has served as private secretary to former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during 2004-2008.

He worked with the World Bank during June 2008 and September 2011 before joining again the Manmohan Singh-led PMO in March 2012.

Subrahmanyam was in the PMO after Narendra Modi became the Prime Minister in May 2014. He stayed in the PMO till March 2015 and then moved to his cadre state Chhattisgarh.

Vijay Kumar, a 1975 batch IPS officer of Tamil Nadu cadre, had earlier served in the Kashmir valley as Inspector General of BSF in 1998-2001 when the border guarding force was actively involved in the counter-militancy operations.

Kumar, 65, had shot to fame when he headed the Special Task Force (STF) for a long time and strategised operations that culminated in the elimination of the dreaded forest brigand Veerappan after an encounter in Tamil Nadu in October 2004.