LS passes Bill to merge J&K cadre with AGMUT for civil services

New Delhi, Feb 13 : The Lok Sabha on Saturday passed the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, 2021 to merge the J&K cadre of civil services officers with the Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Mizoram, Union Territory (AGMUT) cadre.
The Bill was passed with voice vote despite objections raised by the Congress, Trinamool Congress, DMK, RSP and other opposition parties.
Introduced in the Rajya Sabha last week, the Bill amends the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019 which provided for the bifurcation of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir into the Union Territories of J&K and Ladakh. The Bill repeals the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Ordinance, 2021. The Bill specifies that the members of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), the Indian Police Service (IPS) and the Indian Forest Service (IFS) serving in J&K would continue to serve in the two UTs, based on the allocation decided by the Central government.
Further, in future, postings of officers in the two UTs of J&K and Ladakh would be from the AGMUT cadre, which also covers the three states of Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram and Goa, as well as all the UTs.
Putting aside the apprehensions of the opposition, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said the Bill has nothing to do with the statehood of Jammu and Kashmir, which will be given at an appropriate time.
Shah also urged the oppositiion members not to oppose the Bill just for the sake of politics. Highlighting that the Bill does not mention anything about not granting statehood to J&K, Shah said, “I will reiterate again that this Bill has nothing to do with the statehood of Jammu and Kashmir. In due time, Jammu and Kashmir will be given statehood.”