Srinagar: The Administrative Council (AC), which met here under the chairmanship of Lieutenant Governor, Manoj Sinha, approved the proposal of winding up the Gazetteers Unit, Srinagar.
Farooq Khan and Rajeev Rai Bhatnagar, Advisors to the Lieutenant Governor, Dr. Arun Kumar Mehta, Chief Secretary J&K and Principal Secretary, Nitishwar Kumar, to the Lieutenant Governor attended the meeting.
The decision has been taken to give effect to the recommendations of the Committee headed by the Administrative Secretary, Higher Education Department, which was constituted to evaluate the functioning of the Unit. The Committee had found the Unit non-functional, having outlived its utility, but entailing an annual expenditure of Rs. 109 lakh.
The Administrative Council decided to close the Gazetteer Unit and transfer its record, office equipment, and existing staff to the General Administration Department.
Pertinently, the Gazetteer Unit was entrusted with the preparation of regional gazetteers after studying Jammu and Kashmir’s geography, economy, society, education, and social welfare through the archival records, published works, and individual studies to publish the findings in the form of a book called Gazetteer.
