Vyas resigns, to join UPSC as member

Tribune News Service

Jammu, December 12

After serving the state for 32 years, Bharat Bhushan Vyas, an IAS officer of the 1986 batch, on Wednesday resigned as Adviser to the Governor as he is to join the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) as a member.

Vyas submitted his resignation to Governor Satya Pal Malik. Vyas was one of four Advisers to Malik. The Governor accepted the resignation of Vyas with immediate effect, paving way for his appointment as a UPSC member.

He is the first IAS officer from the J&K cadre to become the member of the constitutional body. Vyas will have a term of nearly three years, when he attains the age of 65. A sharp and competent bureaucrat, Vyas, who had taken over as 30th Chief Secretary of J&K last year, holds the distinction of serving as Principal Secretary to three former Chief Ministers of the state — Omar Abdullah, late Mufti Muhammad Sayeed and Mehbooba Mufti. Before taking over as Adviser, Vyas was the Chief Secretary and shared cordial relations with the top leaders of all political parties. Vyas had been appointed as Adviser to Governor on June 20 this year after the then Governor NN Vohra appointed Chhattisgarh cadre 1987-batch IAS officer BVR Subrahmanyam as new Chief Secretary of the state.

Earlier, the Union Personnel Ministry had also amended the service rules to provide extension of three months to Vyas, who was due to superannuate in November 2017 on the request of the then Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti. Later, he was given another three-month extension. Subsequently, he was given another one-year extension in May 2018.

In his illustrious career, Vyas has held prized positions, including Srinagar Deputy Commissioner, Udhampur DC, Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir, and Principal Secretary Finance. He has spent most of the time of his career in J&K. He also had stints in Raj Bhawan as Deputy Secretary and Principal Secretary to the Governor.