Srinagar: In an unprecedented move, the administration of the Union Territory of Ladakh has warned its employees of stringent action if they share official information or documents with any person without due approval.
Those supervising the dissemination of information will also be held personally liable for any unauthorised sharing or communication of information.
In a two-page circular issued on March 1, a copy of which is with The Wire, the general administration department (GAD) of the UT said: “Employees directly or indirectly will not publish, post or release any information on any platform of media that is confidential, not public, or any official document or any part thereof or information to any government employees or any other person to whom he is not authorised to communicate such document or information.”
Also read: A Year After 370 Was Revoked, Ladakh Is Starting to Feel the Sting
The employees have also been directed to “avoid stating, implying or creating the impression that they are communicating in an official capacity on behalf of the department in their personal social media activities in order to avoid creating unwanted issues for the administration”.
Officers of the administration have been told that they will be held personally responsible for any unauthorised sharing of information. “The under-secretaries/deputy secretaries/officers on special duty/supervisory officers in field/directors/deputy commissioners shall personally supervise all such dissemination (receipt & dispatch) of official information and shall be held personally liable for any such unauthorised sharing / communication of information under rules,” the circular said.
Penalties
The administration has justified the circular on the grounds that government employees have been sharing official information without approval.
“Instances have come to the notice of the administration that there has been an increasing trend among government functionaries regarding dissemination of official information without due approval, and unauthorised access is being provided to non-government functionaries,” the circular said.
File photo of Lieutenant Governor of the Union territory of Ladakh Radha Krishna Mathur. Photo: PTI.
It reminded the employees that the sharing of any official information is prohibited under the rules governing employees. “No government employee shall, except in accordance with any general or special order of the government or in the performance in good faith of the duties assigned to him, communicate, directly or indirectly, any official document or any part thereof or information to any government employee or any other person to whom he is not authorised to communicate such document or information,” says Rule 12 of the J&K Employees Conduct Rules, 1971, which is also applicable to those serving in the Ladakh administration.
The circular stated that any violation of the Employee Conduct Rules could lead to departmental action and the penalties provided in Rule 30 of the J&K Civil Services (Classification, Control and Appeal) Rules, 1956, could be imposed, ranging from censure to dismissal from service.
Series of ‘controversies’
The Ladakh region has been stung by several controversies on both the internal and external fronts since it was separated from the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir in 2019 by the BJP-led Central government, after Article 370 of the Constitution of India was read down.
Last year there were protests in Ladakh that demanded the extension of the Sixth Schedule of the constitution of India to the region, so that jobs and land rights would be secured for its natives. This year, the Ladakh union territory’s tableau in the Republic Day parade also triggered a controversy, with the leadership of the union territory’s Kargil district accusing the local administration of only showcasing a “partial representation” of Ladakh’s people and “ignoring its religious and cultural heritage in the tableau”.
Also read: ‘Kargil Religious, Cultural Heritage Ignored’: Row Over Ladakh’s Republic Day Tableau
On the external front, Chinese and Indian troopers have been engaged in aggressive melees, face-offs and skirmishes at locations along the Line of Actual Control since April 2020.
Repeated attempts to get the administration’s reasons to issue such a gag order to its employees have been futile. Ajeet Kumar Sahu, commissioner secretary of the GAD, did not respond to calls from this reporter.
Umer Maqbool is a Kashmir-based independent journalist. He can be reached at maqbool.umer@gmail.com