Sayeed ordering major administrative changes

Jammu, March 15: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Muhammad Sayeed is expected to order a major overhaul in the state administration on Sunday. Sayeed will chair here a cabinet meeting which is expected to make several changes involving commissioners, secretaries as well as top police officials. “Yes, a major administrative overhaul is being ordered in the civil and police administration,” a senior minister told IANS. The meeting follows a row over the Jammu and Kashmir state flag.

A government order last week asked ministers and officials to hoist the state flag on their cars, offices and official buildings. Two days later, another order was issued to rescind the circular, inviting criticism from Sayeed’s critics that he had bucked under pressure from his ally, the Bharatiya Jata Party. Jammu and Kashmir is the only state in the country which has a constitution and a flag of its own. The minister who spoke to IANS, however, did not agree that the administrative changes were prompted by the chief minister’s unhappiness over the flag episode.  (IANS)