Farooq Ahmad Shah, a 2004-batch IAS officer, has formally jumped into the political sphere by joining the National Conference (NC) party in Srinagar on February 25 in presence of the party president Farooq Abdullah.

Shah who hails from Tangmarg has sought a voluntary retirement from services to come on the political turf. He resigned as Secretary Public Health Engineering, Irrigation and flood control with an additional charge of administrative secretary, department of disaster management, relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction.

Working at many prestigious posts in the Jammu and Kashmir government has earned him huge fame and acknowledgement both in the administrative and public circles. During his tenure as DC Taxation, the turnover of excise taxation increased enormously due to the accountability brought into the department.

Among his many postings, Shah has served as secretary SSB (Services Selection Board) during which a record number of 600 recruitment lists were made out with minimum litigation. However, his administrative career gained limelight with the commissioning of the famous Gondola Project in Ski resort of Gulmarg when he was Managing Directorate of Jammu and Kashmir Cable Car Corporation.

Besides, he served at various top posts in different departments including DC Srinagar, DC Anantnag, Director Tourism, Secretary Education, Secretary PHE, I&FC and Relief and Rehabilitation.

In recent times, Shah has the distinction of being second IAS officer in Jammu and Kashmir who has opted for voluntary retirement from Government services for taking a plunge in the active politics. Shah Faesal was the first to set the precedence.

Shah is an engineering graduate from the reputed erstwhile REC Srinagar.

In the upcoming Lok Sabha elections which are scheduled from April, Shah is hopeful that he will get the mandate from his constituency.

Shah was having almost three years of service when he resigned from the job. “I did this to address the issues of the people in my constituency. In the modern developed world, it is painful to see my own people do not even have the basic facilities.”

Shah, during his service tenure, has received various awards like, The State award for meritorious public service, Top 12 tourism professionals in India, Harmukh Award for Promoting Kashmiri Culture, Fazil memorial award 2017, Khillate Mehjoor Award 2008, Charag-e-Kashmir awards 2010, Gulshan Book award for outstanding contribution in the field of tourism.

– Umar Mukhtar

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