Political parties across Jammu & Kashmir’s ideological divide — the ruling National Conference (NC), Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) — have united to demand strict action against senior Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Kumar Rajeev Ranjan after a viral video showed him verbally abusing a woman provincial services officer during an official virtual meeting.
NC chief spokesperson Tanvir Sadiq said chief minister Omar Abdullah has asked chief secretary Atul Dulloo to ensure accountability and protect the woman officer from retribution. “Accountability must prevail, and no one should be allowed to misuse their position to intimidate or victimise others,” Sadiq said.
Sadiq also seized the opportunity to underline the government’s limited powers under the present Union Territory structure. IAS officers posted in J&K fall directly under the Lieutenant Governor’s jurisdiction, leaving the elected Chief Minister without direct powers to transfer or take disciplinary action against them. Had J&K been a full state, Sadiq noted, Ranjan would have been immediately transferred and attached to the General Administration Department (GAD) pending a formal inquiry into his conduct. The Jammu and Kashmir Administrative Services (JKAS) officers’ association issued a statement backing Wani, stating that this was not an isolated incident. BJP spokesman Altaf Thakur described the officer’s conduct as unacceptable. “The language the IAS officer used against a senior Kashmiri woman officer is not acceptable to any of us. An assault on dignity at every level. Even the officers in administration behave like conquerors.@OfficeOfLGJandK @DullooAtal — if she is touched for holding her dignity, it will have consequences,” he wrote on X. This isn’t the first time Kumar Rajeev Ranjan has made headlines. The case is still pending. The fraternity demanded an impartial inquiry into the incident.
This is what abrogation of Art 370 has brought upon us. He was suspended in 2020 after Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrested him in connection with its probe into the large number of arms licences the administration allegedly issued on the basis of forged documents. He was reinstated in 2021. Earlier reporting noted: Ranjan, a 2010-batch IAS officer posted as administrative secretary labour and employment in J&K government, repeatedly interrupted Wani, assistant director, employment and counselling centre Ganderbal, when she was briefing the meeting about the targets achieved by her office.
“This is precisely why the fight for the restoration of full statehood is so important, and why those occupying influential positions continue to undermine it,” he said. The fraternity alleged that the IAS officer has an established pattern of using “unparliamentary and demeaning language” in an official capacity. The IAS officer was allegedly involved in a famous gun scam and action should be taken against him,” he said. Earlier reporting noted: In a statement, the JKAS fraternity said that while it unequivocally upholds administrative accountability and performance monitoring, it maintains that no supervisory authority can justify abusive language, intimidation or such misconduct that undermines the dignity of a serving officer. Earlier reporting noted: The fraternity said this is not an isolated incident, as the IAS officer is alleged to have a pattern of using “unparliamentary and demeaning language” in an official capacity.
