Former bureaucrat RK Mathur takes oath as Ladakh's first LG after Jammu and Kashmir officially split into two UTs

Leh: Former bureaucrat Radha Krishna Mathur was sworn-in on Thursday as the first Lieutenant Governor of the strategically located Union Territory of Ladakh, which came into existence after the bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir.

Mathur, who will turn 66 in November, was administered the oath of office by the Chief Justice of Jammu and Kashmir High Court, Gita Mittal, at a function held at the Sindhu Sanskriti auditorium in Leh, which was attended by officials of the Leh and Kargil hill councils, Army and paramilitary forces, religious leaders and the general public.

Shri RK Mathur, the Lieutenant Governor of the newly formed Union Territory of #Ladakh, taking oath. pic.twitter.com/Y57ZV1vfY0

— Spokesperson, Ministry of Home Affairs (@PIBHomeAffairs) October 31, 2019

After the swearing-in, Mathur, who was given a guard of honour at the venue by the Ladakh Police, said a lot of development activities needed to be carried out in the border areas.

“Already the government is implementing several programmes in the region, priorities for Ladakh will be set in the new regime in consultation with the public and hill councils,” an official spokesperson quoted him as saying.

Mathur, a 1977-batch IAS officer from Tripura, said his experience of working in the backward and border areas in the capacity of the chief secretary of Tripura and the defence secretary will be useful.

A post-graduate in industrial engineering from the IIT, Mathur retired as the defence secretary in 2015 and was appointed as the chief information commissioner in December of the same year. He completed his tenure in November, 2018, after attaining the age of 65 years.

Ahead of the swearing-in, the Union Home Ministry revoked a notification of December last year imposing President’s rule in undivided Jammu and Kashmir.

The Centre, on Wednesday night, appointed Umang Narula, a 1989-batch IAS officer, as an advisor to Mathur, besides posting SS Khandare, a 1995-batch IPS officer, as the “Head of Police” in Ladakh.

With a population of nearly three lakh, Ladakh is strategically located as it shares borders with Pakistan as well as China.