Various officials in Jammu and Kashmir have failed to provide property details and information despite strictly asked by the J&K government. Many senior functionaries, including civil servants have yet to furnish information on properties.
The General Administration Department (GAD) issued an order directing officials to furnish their property details on the Property Returns System portal by March 28. It warned that failure to do would invite punitive action and denial of vigilance clearance.
As per The Tribune, till now many officials have failed to provide their details on the website and many have not shared their asset statement. Even the details of property returns of Raghav Langer, Secretary, Planning Developing and Monitoring, have not been updated on the website this year. His details for 2020-21 state that he does not own a property. His parents own property in Trikuta Nagar and Channi Himmat area of Jammu. Other IAS officers, whose details are not there on the website, include Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board’s CEO Anshul Garg, Tribal Affairs’ Secretary Shahid Iqbal Choudhary, Anantnag Deputy Commissioner Piyush Singla and Jammu DC Avny Lavasa.
As per the details provided by the officers, many have properties in and outside J&K. Asgar Hassan Samoon, Principal Secretary, Skill Development Department, owns three residential plots worth Rs 70 lakh, Rs 50 lakh and Rs 35 lakh in Jammu, Budgam and Ganderbal. He also owns a flat worth Rs 50 lakh in Gurugram and two chunks of agriculture land in Bandipora and Budgam worth Rs 30 lakh each. Chief Secretary Arun Kumar Mehta mentioned about nine properties, most of which are ancestral. Atal Dulloo, Financial Commissioner, Agriculture Production, inherits a house (Rs 1.20 crore) in Trikuta Nagar.
An official told The Tribune that senior officials, including Rohit Kansal, Arun Kumar Mehta, Mandeep Kumar Bhandari and Dheeraj Gupta, have provided their details.
