No headway in appointment of Chairman JKBOSE as term of incumbent expires

Srinagar, Jan 25: There seems to be no headway in the appointment of the new Chairman of JK Board of School Education (JKBOSE) as the two year term of the incumbent expired on January 24 of 2025. The J&K government on December 13, 2024 reconstituted a search committee for recommending the panel of the candidates for the appointment as Chairman JK Board of School Education (BOSE) and the Director Jammu and Kashmir State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT).

As per the government order, the Committee is headed by Administrative Secretary Agricultural Production Department  as its Chairman while the Administrative Secretary of School Education Department (SED), GAD and Higher Education Department (HED) will be the members of the committee.

The other two members of the search committee are Vice Chancellor University of Kashmir (KU) and Vice Chancellor University of Jammu (JU). "The committee shall be served by the School Education Department," the order reads.

However, till date there has been no headway in the appointment of the new chairman for the JKBOSE even as the officials in the SED say that the process was going on. As the two year term of incumbent chairman expired on January 24, the officers and the officials in the JKBOSE are in a dilemma as the government has not issued any order and give the charge of the post to any equivalent rank officer.

"Till the recent past, the precedence was that after the completion of the term of JKBOSE chairman, the charge was either given to Secretary JKBOSE or the post was looked after by the Administrative Secretary of SED. In the present situation, the government has not issued any such order," a top official of the SED told Greater Kashmir.

The incumbent chairman Prof Parikshat Singh Manhas was appointed as the Chairman JKBOSE on January 25 of 2023 on deputation basis for a period of two years. As per the order, his appointment came into effect "from the date of the issuance of the notification of his appointment." As per set norms, the incumbent chairman was supposed to demit his office on January 25 of 2025.

A JKBOSE official said the present time was crucial as the annual board exams are scheduled in February and other policy decisions are also caught in the middle. "No doubt that some small issues are handled by the lower rung official but in case of major policy decisions, the final call is taken by the Chairman. All the officials are confused if we can put the files before the Chairman for his signatures as his term expired," the official said.

An official in the Administrative department meanwhile said the process for the appointment of the new chairman was going on and in absence of the Chairman, policy decisions can be taken by the Secretary JKBOSE. "If the term of the incumbent chairman has expired and there is no further order for his extension, he has to demit office. The policy matter will be handled by the secretary JKBOSE," the official said. Notably, the winter vacation period is the transition phase from one academic session to the next session in schools and many policy decisions are taken to run the day to day affairs smoothly.

"Winter vacation period is crucial for JKBOSE as a lot of exercise in terms of publication of textbooks and other things is to be done," the official said.

Principal Secretary SED, Suresh Kumar Gupta when contacted said the process for appointment of new Chairman for JKBOSE was already going on and the issues will be resolved very soon.

"Civil secretariat remains off on Saturday and Sunday and maybe that is the reason why no decision has been taken. But on Monday, some decision will be taken in this regard," he said when asked about assigning the charge to any equivalent rank officer.