Hyder Ali
Early Times Report
Srinagar, July 1: Administrative reshuffle in the picturesque Royal Springs Golf Course by Chief Minister, Mehbooba Mufti is being seen as a major step towards streamlining the affairs at the RSGC, which was monopolized by some noted faces of Kashmir as their personal fiefdom.
Chief Minister, who also holds the portfolio of Tourism Ministry, affected massive administrative reshuffle, throwing out some RSGC officials, who had been posted there since the inception of the golf course over a decade ago.
On Thursday, the DG Tourism issued orders vide number 238 TSM of 2016, "transferring with immediate effect, Ghalib Mohid-ud-Din, Managing Director cum Chief Executive Officer Jammu and Kashmir Golf Development and Management Authority, as the Secretary RSGC in addition to his own duties till further orders."
A woman official, who had been working at RSGC for over 12 years, and was allegedly calling the shots, has been transferred to another golf course, which is presently nothing beyond a dustbowl, given the massive land-filling of the greens being undertaken, as part of the up-gradation of the facility in ruins since 2014 floods.
It is for the first time in her service tenure, that this woman officer, who was appointed by the then Chief Minister Dr Farooq Abdullah at RSGC, has been transferred out of this hangout, which is a favorite with the influential people of Kashmir, including politicians, bureaucrats and businessmen.
Appointed as the Assistant Green Keeper through alleged "backdoor entry", officials said, the woman official had been given multiple "illegal promotions".
Some professional golfers said she had emerged as "dictator at the greens." "This dictatorship she managed because over the years she had gained close affiliation with who's who of Kashmir, whose business interests she would take care of," said a delegation of golfers.
But over the years public resentment against the woman official had gone so high that in 2015 the Kashmir Inc including Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industries, the Kashmir Economic Alliance and the Federation Chamber of Commerce and Industries called a joint press conference to reveal the muck prevalent at the RSGC.
The Kashmir Inc had accused the woman official of large scale irregularities in allotment of tenders worth crores.
Though given her influence in the corridors of power, the "influential" woman official retained her "power and position", Mehbooba's regime has brought a change for good.
Sources said during a recent meeting related to the management of RSGC, the Chief Minister sought administrative reshuffle in the interest of the good governance and better working of golf course.
The Chief Minister is understood to have told the concerned officials that no indiscipline would be tolerated and that nobody should take the prestigious RSGC has his personal fiefdom.
Meanwhile senior officials at the Civil Secretariat while hailing the administrative reshuffle hoped that the change would bring in much needed improvement and transparency at the RSGC. |
