Meet Radha Krishna Mathur, the first L-G of Ladakh
On Thursday, former defense secretary Radha Krishna Mathur was sworn-in as the first Lieutenant-Governor of newly formed Union Territory, Ladakh. The Himalayan region got a new status from midnight after Jammu and Kashmir was officially split into two UTs, following the abrogation of Article 370 in August. To note, Ladakh UT will not have a legislature, unlike the UT of Jammu and Kashmir.
Mathur's oath was administered by Chief Justice of Jammu and Kashmir High Court Gita Mittal at a ceremony held at Sindhu Sanskriti auditorium in Tsuru. A senior official read out the letter of appointment. Subsequently, Mathur, a retired IAS officer of 1997-batch of Tripura cadre, inspected a guard of police. Ladakh's first L-G has served in Central and Tripura governments too.
Mathur holds a postgraduate degree in Industrial Engineering from IIT. In 2015, he retired as a defense secretary and in December the same year, he became the Chief Information Commissioner. He retired from the post in November last year. Mathur has also served as Development Commissioner in the Ministry of Textiles and the Chief Enforcement Officer in the Ministry of Textiles.
A day before Mathur's swearing-in, Centre appointed Umang Narula, an IAS officer of 1989 batch, as his adviser. Separately, the 1995-batch IPS officer, SS Khandare, was given the post of "Head of Police" of Ladakh.
Being declared as a UT has been one of the longest-standing demands of Ladakh residents. In his August speech in Lok Sabha, which made it to headlines, parliamentarian Jamyang Tsering Namgyal said the Himalayan region was always neglected by J&K administration. And for the first time, aspirations of Ladakh's residents have been honored, the young MP had added.
