Jammu Kashmir: Home Ministry Takes Back Key Financial Powers From Ladakh Administration | Kashmir Life

SRINAGAR: As reported exclusively by Jammu-based newspaper Daily Excelsior, the Home Affairs Ministry has withdrawn major delegated financial powers from the Lt Governor of Ladakh, Administrative Secretaries, Deputy Commissioners and senior engineering officials, placing the approval of projects squarely under the Ministry’s direct control.

An order issued by Lt Governor Kavinder Gupta, based on instructions from the MHA, states that approvals for schemes and projects up to Rs 100 crore, earlier vested in the LG, will now be exercised by the MHA. Similarly, the earlier powers of Administrative Secretaries to accord approvals up to Rs 20 crore stand withdrawn.

The most consequential shift concerns the Head of Departments, including Deputy Commissioners who function as Chief Executive Officers of the Hill Development Councils. Their authority to sanction individual works up to Rs 5 crore has been taken over by the MHA. The Leh Hill Council stands dissolved after its term ended, with its powers presently assigned to the Deputy Commissioner of Leh, while the Kargil Hill Council remains functional.

The Ministry has also assumed the sanctioning powers earlier held by Chief Engineers and Superintending Engineers for individual works valued up to Rs 10 crore and Rs 3 crore, respectively. According to the order, all new proposals requiring administrative approval or expenditure sanction must now be routed through the Planning, Development and Monitoring Department, Ladakh, before being forwarded to the MHA, the newspaper reported.

Contract approvals have also been realigned. The Contract Committee will continue to grant contracts for individual works exceeding Rs 40 crore and up to Rs 100 crore, but only after the MHA issues administrative and expenditure sanctions. Below this threshold, contract-granting powers remain with the Committee.

For procurement and tendering, the LG will retain powers up to Rs 100 crore, the Chief Secretary up to Rs 50 crore, Administrative Secretaries up to Rs 20 crore, and Heads of Department up to Rs 2 crore, with strict adherence to General Financial Rules and procurement manuals.

The Lieutenant Governor will continue to exercise full authority within budgetary limits for contingent and miscellaneous expenditure, while the financial limits for other senior officials have been fixed at Rs 1 crore for the Chief Secretary, Rs 75 lakh for the Finance Secretary, Rs 50 lakh for Administrative Secretaries, and Rs 30 lakh for Heads of Department, according to the newspaper.