J&K Govt Suspends CEO Bandipora a Day After Cancelling 34 Teacher Deputations

Suhail Khan

Srinagar, Feb 20: Jammu & Kashmir Government on Thursday suspended Chief Education Officer (CEO) Bandipora, Balbir Kumar, barely a day after he cancelled the deputation of 34 teachers originally posted in Education Zone Gurez but had been deputed in other zones without formal approval.

According to Government Order No. 79-JK (Edu) of 2026 dated February 20, 2026, issued by the School Education Department, Kumar has been placed under suspension with immediate effect pending enquiry into his conduct under Rule 31 of the Jammu and Kashmir Civil Services (Classification, Control and Appeal) Rules, 1956.

During the suspension period, he shall remain attached to the Directorate of School Education, Kashmir. The order does not specify the grounds of enquiry.
On February 19, the CEO had issued an order cancelling the deployment of 34 teachers who were originally appointed in Gurez but were serving in other education zones of Bandipora district. The officials were directed to report to their original place of posting with immediate effect, failing which disciplinary action was to follow.

Sources said the cancellation order has reportedly irked certain local political leaders in Gurez, at whose behest the unapproved deputations were allegedly made.

“CEO Bandipora had initiated corrective measures, and we were expecting similar action in other zones as well. But he has been punished for making effort to rectify the mistakes,” locals said adding, “The developments has exposed the role of the political leadership. People now understand who was behind these decisions. Several schools in Gurez Valley have been left staff-starved due to these illegal deputations,” Locals told Kashmir Convener.

The cancellation order had come after Kashmir Convener reported about the audit report of August 2025 by the Principal Accountant General (Audit), Jammu and Kashmir that flagged irregular teacher attachments in Zone Dawar of Gurez, pointing to unauthorised deployments and financial implications amounting to ₹5.14 crore.
The audit observed that despite sanctioned posts, schools in remote Gurez were functioning with shortages due to prolonged attachments of teachers to other zones and offices. It also noted that several deployments lacked formal administrative approval.
The findings had sparked public debate over staff imbalance, particularly as reports indicated that teachers from staff-starved zones had been shifted to relatively accessible areas, creating surplus in some zones while tribal and remote schools struggled to maintain the Pupil-Teacher Ratio (PTR).