Former Defence Secy RK Mathur Takes Oath as First L-G of Ladakh

Apart from being defence sec, Mathur also held several other posts including that of Tripura’s chief secretary.

RK Mathur has been appointed as the first L-G of Ladakh

(Photo: The Quint)

Former defence secretary R K Mathur was on Thursday, 31 October, sworn-in as the first Lt Governor of strategically located Union Territory of Ladakh, which came into existence after the bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir.

Mathur, who will be turning 66 years old later this month, was administered the oath of office by Chief Justice of Jammu and Kashmir High Court Gita Mittal at a function held at Sindhu Sanskriti auditorium at Tisuru in Ladakh.

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

Mathur, an IAS officer of 1977 batch from Tripura, later inspected a guard of honour of local police. A post graduate in Industrial Engineering from IIT, Mathur retired as Defence Secretary in 2015 and was appointed as Chief Information Commissioner in December the same year.

He completed his tenure in November last year after attaining the age of 65 years.

Apart from holding post of the defence secretary, Mathur has also donned the hats of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Secretary of India and the Chief Secretary of Tripura. He has also served as the Development Commissioner in Ministry of Textiles and the Chief Enforcement Officer in Ministry of Textiles in the Central government.

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.

Meanwhile, IAS officer Girish Chandra Murmu has been appointed as the Lt Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, the other union territory.