A resident of Kashmir and 2010 IAS Topper Shah Faisal will return to Jammu and Kashmir to oversee development activities in North Kashmir after a gap of three years. The central government has appointed eight IAS officers including Shah Faisal to the central in-charge officer for the aspiring blocks of Jammu and Kashmir and two IAS officers for Ladakh.

Charge of aspiration block

IAS officer Shah Faisal has been given the charge of the aspiring block of Tulail in Bandipora district. Which is his first appointment in Jammu and Kashmir after his restoration in 2022.

Resignation from IAS in January 2019

In January 2019, Faisal resigned from the post of IAS citing ‘continuous murders in Kashmir’ and being marginalized in India. He then formed his own political party Jammu and Kashmir People’s Movement (JKPM). After the cancellation of Article 370 in August 2019, Faisal was detained under the Public Safety Act (PSA).

Left politics in 2020

Faisal left politics in 2020 and dissolved his political party. He was restored to the Indian Administrative Service after the government accepted his application to withdraw his resignation in April 2022.

In August 2022, he was appointed as Deputy Secretary in the Union Ministry of Tourism and was later transferred to the Union Ministry of Culture. Now he will serve in Bandipora district of his home state.

According to the details, Bandipora (Tulail), along with the Deputy Secretary Shah Faisal (IAS) appointed for Jammu and Kashmir, for Jammu and Kashmir and other officers appointed for Ladakh, Ankita Anand (IAS), Deputy Secretary, Jal Shakti (Drinking Water and Sanitation), Kishtwar (Marwah), Jammu and Kashmir; Mujtaba Ahmed (IDAS), Director, Khan, Kulgam (Manjagam), are included for Jammu and Kashmir.

What is ‘aspirational block’?

‘Aspiration block’ refers to a sub-district administrative unit, block in India, which is identified by the government to improve acute socio-economic development and improvement of quality of governance and life.