R K Mathur sworn-in as Ladakh LG

Former bureaucrat Radha Krishna Mathur was sworn-in on Thursday as the first Lieutenant Governor of the strategically located Union Territory of Ladakh, which came into existence after the bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir. Mathur, who will turn 66 next month, was administered the oath of office by the Chief Justice of Jammu and Kashmir High Court, Gita Mittal, at a function held at the Sindhu Sanskriti auditorium here, which was attended by officials of the Leh and Kargil hill councils, Army and paramilitary forces, religious leaders and the general public.

After the swearing-in, Mathur, who was given a guard of honor at the venue by the Ladakh Police, said a lot of development activities needed to be carried out in the border areas. "Already the government is implementing several programs in the region, priorities for Ladakh will be set in the new regime in consultation with the public and hill councils," an official spokesperson quoted him as saying.

Mathur, a 1977-batch IAS officer from Tripura, said his experience of working in the backward and border areas in the capacity of the chief secretary of Tripura and the defense secretary will be useful. A post-graduate in industrial engineering from the IIT, Mathur retired as the defense secretary in 2015 and was appointed as the chief information commissioner in December of the same year. He completed his tenure in November last year after attaining the age of 65 years.

Ahead of the swearing-in, the Union Home Ministry revoked a notification of December last year imposing President's rule in undivided Jammu and Kashmir. The Centre, on Wednesday night, appointed Umang Narula, a 1989-batch IAS officer, as an advisor to Mathur, besides posting S S Khandare, a 1995-batch IPS officer, as the "Head of Police" in Ladakh.

With a population of nearly three lakh, Ladakh is strategically located as it shares borders with Pakistan as well as China.