Bhubaneswar: Odia IAS officer Girish Chandra Murmu has been appointed as the first Lieutenant Governor of Jammu & Kashmir, a statement from President Ram Nath Kovind’s office said on Friday.
The 1985-batch Gujarat cadre IAS officer is currently serving as Expenditure Secretary in the Finance Ministry.
Murmu was the principal secretary to Prime Minister Narendra Modi when the latter was the chief minister of Gujarat. He is considered to be a close confidante of the Prime Minister.
Meanwhile, incumbent J&K Governor Satya Pal Malik has been transferred as the Governor of Goa.
Similarly, Radha Krishna Mathur has been appointed as Lieutenant Governor of Ladakh.
The two Union Territories will come into existence on October 31 .
On August 9, President Ram Nath Kovind had given his assent to the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019, bifurcating the two Union Territories.