The J&K tourism consultant appointment made just months after the Chief Minister’s reappointment ban is sparking major controversy. The new consultant, reportedly the cousin of the J&K Assembly Speaker, has stirred debates over political favoritism, transparency, and timing. Here’s what we know so far—and why this decision is grabbing national headlines.
Srinagar: According to information obtained by The Wire, the administration has named Abdul Rahim Rather, a senior National Conference (NC) leader and close relative of the speaker of the Jammu and Kashmir parliament, as a “consultant” in the tourist division. Last month, the relative retired from the military.
The appointment appears to be against the directives of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who during a meeting in December of last year demanded a “complete ban” on “re-employment…and extensions, except in extraordinary circumstances” of the retired government officers.
On April 4, J&K’s general administration department (GAD) issued Government Order No. 440-JK(GAD) of 2025, which called for the appointment of Mushtaq Ahmed Rather, an officer in the Jammu and Kashmir Administrative Service (JKAS) and a cousin of former J&K finance minister Abdul Rahim Rather.
The GAD directive stated that “it is hereby sanctioned to engage Mr. Mushtaq Ahmad Rather, JKAS (Rtd.) as Consultant in the Tourism Department, on contractual basis.” The officer, who resigned on March 31, was appointed for a one-year term.
According to the order, “the terms and conditions as per order in engagement are…terminable with one month’s notice from either side; the officer’s pay shall be fixed in accordance with Article 259-A of the J&K CSRS (civil service rules); and the officer shall be governed in matters of discipline, appeal, and conduct as are applicable to the Government employees,” the order stated.
Less than five months had passed since Abdullah ordered the GAD to end the practice of rehiring retiring officials, claiming that it “hampered the growth of deserving officers and leads to resentment and stagnation within departments.”
They reached out to Abdullah and his office for comment regarding the J&K tourism consultant appointment. Repeated phone calls and text messages to Speaker Rather and the ruling party’s chief spokesperson, Tanvir Sadiq, received no response. This story will be updated as and when a response is received.
According to a senior officer in the law department of J&K, the government is authorized by law to hire consultants “to tap the skills which are not available” among the current government employees.
He added, “By definition, a consultant cannot be a retired government employee. They are not appointed to undertake the general work of the departments.”
According to sources, the JKAS officer involved in the J&K tourism consultant appointment resides in Badipora village of Budgam district—the same area that Speaker Rather hails from. Sources further revealed that the officer was inducted into J&K’s elite administrative service without clearing the standard entrance exam, having initially joined as a non-gazetted employee. Additionally, he reportedly has no prior experience in the tourism sector.
When he retired on March 31 of this year, he was assigned to the social welfare department in Srinagar as a program officer.
How the J&K Tourism Consultant Appointment Sparks Outrage Amid High Unemployment
According to sources, the administration is extremely outraged by his reappointment because it coincides with Jammu and Kashmir’s high unemployment rate.
The controversial appointment decision was issued by the GAD, which made headlines lately when it ordered the transfer of several senior JKAS personnel without consulting the chief minister. Manoj Sinha, the lieutenant governor who approved the transfer order, defended the action by claiming that it was within the bounds of the 2019 J&K Reorganisation Act.
Although the rules allowed the government to hire consultants on a contract basis, former J&K minister Naeem Akhtar, who was a senior officer in the tourism department before joining the PDP, said that the GAD order was a “shocking illustration” of the senior NC leader “using his role in big political sellout for petty personal reason.”
“The Speaker is in the middle of a balancing act that fortifies the erasure and disempowerment of Jammu and Kashmir post-2019,” he said. “From his high seat, he plays a crucial role in normalising what has been done to us. And now, through moves like the J&K tourism consultant appointment, he is marring the careers of our younger generation.”
During his time in the government service, Akhtar, a prominent leader of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), told The Wire that no officer was called back to the government within two weeks of their retirement.
“This is blatant nepotism at a time when our young people are having a hard time finding employment,” he added.
After his son, Hilal Rather, was detained by J&K’s Anti-Corruption Bureau in 2020 in connection with a Rs 177 crore suspected bank fraud case, Rather found himself in the center of a maelstrom after Article 370 was read down. The Central Bureau of Investigation took over the case after the court eventually granted him bail.
Senior J&K Bharatiya Janata Party leader Ashok Kaul stated that the J&K tourism consultant appointment, involving the reappointment of a retired officer, has raised serious concerns about the lack of transparency in the government led by Abdullah.
“There is no dearth of highly educated and intelligent youth in Jammu and Kashmir. The J&K tourism consultant appointment is an unfortunate decision that should not have been made in the first place,” said Kaul, BJP’s state general secretary (organization). “The government should come clean on the issue and revoke the order.”
Waheed Para, a Pulwama lawmaker and PDP leader, criticized the chief minister, saying that although Abdullah claimed to be working for J&K’s statehood to be restored, his government was “busy in rehabilitating the relatives of party leaders.”
“The government has no trouble rehabilitating the relatives of NC leaders, but it is unable to transfer officers within the administration. Many questions are raised by the fact that the retired officer was assigned to a crucial position in the tourism industry, which is being damaged in the name of progress, according to Para, the president of the Youth PDP.
