Kashmir interlocutor and retired IPS Dineshwar Sharma given cabinet secretary's rank; IAS Utpal Kumar Singh prematurely repatriated to Uttarakhand

Dineshwar Sharma (right) with home minister Rajnath Singh

THE CENTRAL government on Monday appointed former Intelligence Bureau chief and 1979 batch retired IPS Dineshwar Sharma as the interlocutor in Kashmir, bestowing on him the rank of a cabinet secretary, the topmost rank in Indian bureaucracy. As home minister Rajnath Singh had announced, Sharma as the representative of Government of India would initiate and carry forward a dialogue with the elected representatives, various organisations and other individuals concerned in Jammu and Kashmir. By giving the rank of the cabinet secretary, the government clearly wanted to…

empower Sharma to take independent decisions on sensitive Kashmir matters.

Originally belonging to Bihar, Sharma was allotted the Kerala cadre after getting selected as an IPS in 1979. He had worked in various locations including Jammu and Kashmir, Nagaland, Manipur and Uttar Pradesh, before becoming the IB chief in 2014. He was also the additional director and special director in the Intelligence Bureau.

“He (Sharma) has in-depth understanding of security related matters and considerable knowledge and experience of issues relating to Jammu and Kashmir”, a government release on his appointment said on Monday.

Meanwhile, in an unrelated development, the government on Monday prematurely repatriated Utpal Kumar Singh, 1986 batch Uttarakhand cadre IAS and additional secretary in the department of agriculture, cooperation and farmers’ welfare to his parent cadre, Uttarakhand. 

Also, Rahul Chaudhary, 2000 batch Indian Ordnance Factory Service officer, has been appointed as Director (Finance) in National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), an agency that comes under the ministry of home affairs (MHA). In another appointment, 1999 batch Indian Economic Service Dr KK Tripathy who is now a director in the department of higher education, has been appointed as director in Vaikunth Mehta National Institute of Cooperative Management (VAMNICOM), Pune, on a deputation basis.

Also, the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has approved the appointment of Alok Kumar Pateria, 1986 batch Madhya Pradesh cadre IPS, as additional Director General, CISF on deputation basis for a period upto May 31, 2020 i.e. the date of his superannuation.