Government of Jammu and Kashmir

Government of Jammu and Kashmir
Seat of GovernmentSrinagar, Jammu
Legislative branch
AssemblyJammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly
SpeakerAbdul Rahim Rather
Members in Assembly114 seats (90 seats + 24 seats reserved for Pakistan administered Kashmir)[1]
Executive branch
Lieutenant GovernorManoj Sinha
Chief Minister
(Head of Government)		Omar Abdullah
Deputy Chief Minister
(Deputy Head of Government)		Surinder Kumar Choudhary
Chief SecretaryAtal Dulloo, IAS
Judiciary
High CourtJammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court
Chief JusticeTashi Rabstan

The Government of Jammu and Kashmir is the principal administrative authority responsible for the governance of the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. Established on 5 March 1948 as the Government of Princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, and the Government of Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir after the reorganization of the former state of Jammu and Kashmir in October 2019, the government operates under the framework of the Indian constitution.[2][3] The union territory comprises two divisions—Jammu and Kashmir—with different cultural and geographical characteristics.[4]

Jammu and Kashmir is a union territory in India under the terms of Article 239A (which was initially applied to Puducherry and is now also applicable to the union territory as per the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019) of the Constitution of India. Jammu and Kashmir has executive, legislative and judicial branches of government. Srinagar and Jammu are the summer and winter capitals of Jammu and Kashmir respectively.

Executive

The head of state of Jammu and Kashmir is a lieutenant governor, appointed by the president of India on the advice of the central government. His or her post is largely ceremonial. The chief minister,[5] is the head of government and chairs a council of ministers.

Council of Ministers of Jammu and Kashmir

Main article: Second Omar Abdullah ministry

A Council of Ministers led by a Chief Minister is appointed by the Lieutenant Governor from the membership of the legislative assembly. Their role is to advise the Lieutenant Governor in the exercise of functions in matters under the jurisdiction of the legislative assembly. In other matters, the Lieutenant Governor is empowered to act in his own capacity.[6]

The council of ministers formed after the 2024 Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly election is as follows:[7][8]

S.No Name[9] Constituency Department Assumed office[10] Party
Chief Minister
1 Omar Abdullah
(Chief Minister) 		Ganderbal All other remaining Departments not Allocated to any Ministers shall remain to cm 16 October 2024 JKNC
Deputy Chief Minister
2 Surinder Kumar Choudhary
(Deputy Chief Minister) 		Nowshera Labour &Employment, Skill development , Public Works (R&b) , Mining, Industries and commerce 16 October 2024 JKNC
Cabinet Ministers
3 Sakina Itoo Damal Hanji Pora Health and Medical Education, School Education, Higher Education, Social welfare 16 October 2024 JKNC
4 Javid Ahmad Dar Rafiabad Agriculture Production, Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Cooperative &Election 16 October 2024 JKNC
5 Javed Ahmed Rana Mendhar Tribal Affairs, Forest Ecology&Environment, Jal shakti 16 October 2024 JKNC
6 Satish Sharma Chhamb Food, Civil Supplies & consumer Affairs, Transport, Science and Technology, Information Technology, Youth Services and Sports, Ari and Trainings 16 October 2024 Independent

Previous ministries

Legislative

The legislative branch is of government is a unicameral legislative assembly, whose tenure is five years.[11] The legislative assembly may make laws for any of the matters in the State List of the Constitution of India except "public order" and "police", which will remain the preserve of the central Government of India. The Lieutenant Governor also has the power to promulgate ordinances which have the same force as the acts of the legislative assembly.[6]

The most recent election for the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly was held in September and October 2024. The membership of the assembly by party is as follows:

Membership by party in the 13th Jammu and Kashmir Assembly
Party MLAs
JKNC 42
BJP 29
INC 6
JKPDP 3
AAP 1
CPI(M) 1
Independent 7
Nominated 5
Total 95

Judicial

The union territory is under the jurisdiction of the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, which also serves as high court for neighbouring Ladakh.[12] Police services are provided by the Jammu and Kashmir Police.[13]

Local government

Further information: Municipal governance in India

Jammu and Kashmir is divided into two divisions, Jammu Division and Kashmir Division which are further divided into 20 districts. The districts elect 14 member District Development Councils.[14]

Agencies

In 2018, Jammu and Kashmir Infrastructure Development Finance Corporation (JKIDFC) was set-up to speed up languishing infrastructure development in the union territory.[15][16]

References

  1. ^ Das, Shaswati (31 October 2019). "Indian Jammu and Kashmir transitions from a state into 2 federal units". Livemint. Retrieved 27 June 2021.
  2. ^ "Raj Bhavan, Government of Jammu & Kashmir". Raj Bhavan, Government of Jammu & Kashmir. 15 August 1947. Retrieved 22 October 2024.
  3. ^ Akhtar, Rais; Kirk, William (26 July 1999). "Politics, Religion, Society". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 22 October 2024.
  4. ^ Akhtar, Rais; Kirk, William (26 July 1999). "People, Culture, Religion". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 22 October 2024.
  5. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 8 October 2010. Retrieved 25 August 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  6. ^ a b "Jammu & Kashmir Reorganisation Bill passed by Rajya Sabha: Key takeaways". The Indian Express. The Indian Express. 5 August 2019. Retrieved 27 June 2021.
  7. ^ https://indianexpress.com/article/india/omar-abdullah-jammu-and-kashmir-cm-cabinet-ministers-9622879/
  8. ^ https://jkgad.nic.in/common/showOrder.aspx?actCode=O44007
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference m1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference m2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ Press Trust of India (4 December 2013). "Reduce J-K Assembly term to 5 years: BJP". Business Standard. Retrieved 8 July 2018.
  12. ^ "Jammu & Kashmir High Court". jkhighcourt.nic.in. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
  13. ^ Ratan, Devesh; Johri, Iti (7 August 2019). "Salient Features Of Jammu & Kashmir Reorganization Bill [Read Bill]". LiveLaw.in: All about law. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
  14. ^ "J&K: First-ever District Development Council elections to be held in eight phases from November 28". Scroll.in. 5 November 2020. Retrieved 22 November 2020.
  15. ^ "J&K to raise Rs 8,000 cr loans for funding infra projects". Business Standard India. PTI. 17 January 2019. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
  16. ^ "Languishing projects become animated". Daily Excelsior. 13 August 2020. Retrieved 13 August 2020.