Mushtaq Uri being pushed as Chairman J&K Bank, Basharat Dhar as VC
Ahmed Ali Fayyaz

SRINAGAR, Aug 30: National Conference-led coalition government has decided to recommend a former Executive Director, Mushtaq Uri, as the next Chairman of Jammu & Kashmir Bank Ltd within days of Haseeb Drabu’s unceremonious dismissal. Commissioner-Secretary of Power Development Department (PDD), Basharat Ahmed Dhar, is being appointed as Vice Chancellor of Islamic University of Science & Technology (IUST), Awantipore, in place of Prof Sidiq Wahid whose three-year term has expired in September 2008.

Highly placed authoritative sources revealed to Early Times that Mushtaq Ahmed alias Mushtaq Uri, who retired two years ago as Executive Director, was the NC patriarch Dr Farooq Abdullah’s choice, understandably influenced by his old trusted colleagues---Rajya Sabha Member, Mohammad Shafi Uri, and Minister of Finance, Abdul Rahim Rather. Reversing the earlier suggestion of the Board of Directors to constitute a search committee, interim Chairman and Commissioner-Secretary Finance, Sudhanshu Pandey, straightaway proposed a panel of three names in today’s BOD meeting at Corporate Headquarters of J&K Bank.

Informed sources said that Mushtaq’s name was on the top of the list. Inclusion of two weaker candidates, Mrs Tanvir Jehan and G A Pir, on serial numbers two and three was clear indication of the Government having decided to appoint Mushtaq as Drabu’s successor in J&K Bank. Senior officers of Kashmir Administrative Service (KAS), Jehan and Pir are currently holding the rank of Secretary to Government. While Secretary School Education, Pir was transferred and appointed as Excise Commissioner on August 26th last, Jehan has been functioning as Secretary Higher Education since earlier this year. Neither of these ‘covering candidates’ has a high profile or financial background to merit consideration by Reserve Bank of India.

All the eight Directors on Board were present in today’s meeting. They included interim Chairman of J&K Bank and Commissioner-Secretary Finance, Sudhanshu Pandey, Abdul Majeed Matoo, Mohammad Ibrahim Shehdad, Prof Nisar Ali, Rakesh Kumar Gupta, B R Dogra, Vikrant Kauthalya and Nihal Garware besides both the Executive Directors, namely Abdul Majeed Mir and A K Mehta. Sources said that none of the 10 Directors on Board, including interim Chairman, raised any objection to what could be interpreted by a many quarters as an arbitrary method of imposing the Government’s nominees on the autonomous financial institution. By virtue of its 53.17% stake, Government of Jammu & Kashmir is enjoying monopoly in all decisions of the bank.

Even as another BOD meeting is scheduled to happen on Tuesday, sources said that Pandey would submit the panel of three names to Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah, through the proper channel of Minister of Finance, Abdul Rahim Rather, tomorrow. After getting the state government’s mandatory approval, J&K Bank would forward the proposal for ultimate consideration and sanction to the appointment of the new incumbent to RBI.

According to these sources, Dr Abdullah, alongwith his much marginalized coterie, was calling the shots in the fresh political appointments. Senior NC leaders like Abdul Rahim Rather, Mohammad Shafi Uri, Choudhary Mohammad Ramzan and Speaker of Legislative Assembly, Mohammad Akbar Lone, were reportedly playing key role in the fresh developments that dramatically initiated with a closed-door meeting of the NC’s Core Group here last week. Sources said that Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah, was very much in the loop, though holding a low-key profile. “Politicians have the peoples’ mandate. How long can agencies’ men rule this state?”, was a big question at the NC’s Core Group meeting, according to sources.

Sources revealed that as a part of the fresh political appointments, new Vice Chancellors were shortly being appointed for IUST Awantipore and Baba Ghulam Shah Badshah University, Rajouri. Even as Prof Sidiq Wahid’s three-year term had expired in September 2008 and a duly appointed search committee, headed by Mehmood-ur-Rehman, had recommended a panel of four names, Government has failed to appoint VC for IUST in the last two years. Chief Minister (Head of the Government and the Muslim Auqaf) is the appointing authority. In absence of a decision from the Chief Minister’s office, Prof Wahid has been acting as VC at IUST without authority since September 2008.

Sources revealed that the state government had, of late, managed to remove the name of the top panelist, Prof Nisar Ali, and inserted the name of Commissioner-Secretary PDD, Basharat Ahmed Dhar, in the Mehmood-ur-Rehman led search committee report. This is being viewed as a clear indication of the Government’s choice having zeroed in on the senior bureaucrat Basharat Ahmed Dhar, retiring from service next year. Earlier, Basharat was understood to be lobbying for a membership in the State Public Service Commission. Sources said that the new VC for BGSB University would be a choice of the ruling coalition partner, Congress. Fresh process of search was now underway for VCs of both the universities.

Meanwhile, sources added, that today’s BOD meeting at J&K Bank accorded approval to the draft MOU to be executed between the state government’s Department of Labour and Employment and the J&K Bank for the purpose of providing financial support, including Seed Capital, to the trainee entrepreneurs being recommended by EDI under Sher-e-Kashmir Employment & Welfare Scheme for Youth (SKEWPY). The BOD also approved Financial Inclusion Plan (FIP) to provide employment to over 6,000 youth in almost all the villages of the state. Some of the huge credit proposals were sanctioned but at least five of these proposals, including one in power sector, were categorically rejected.

In a significant development, BOD did not approve minutes of a previous meeting whereby Chairman’s monthly salary had been raised from Rs 3.10 Lakhs to Rs 4.50 Lakh. Prevailing upon half-a-dozen Directors on Board, Drabu had hiked his own salary from Rs 37 Lakh a year to Rs 54 Lakh a year last month. When the minutes of the previous meeting came up for confirmation today, a number of the Directors objected to the hike with the argument was Chairmen and MDs of most of the Indian natioanlised banks were drawing just around Rs 1.20 Lakh a month.

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