After almost 30 years, Delhi to get another Muslim Lieutenant Governor

Najeeb Jung is an IAS officer of the 1973 batch from the Madhya Pradesh cadre.

He might have been heavily involved in the capital through his position as the V-C of Jamia Millia Islamia but Najeeb Jung's connection with Delhi just got a lot tighter. On Monday, the Rashtrapati Bhavan announced that the 62-year-old is to be the 20th Lt.-Governor of Delhi, following two-time L-G Tejendra Khanna.

Najeeb Jung will be the second Muslim to head the post after M.M.K. Wali occupied the post between 1984 and 1985.

Jung, an IAS officer of the 1973 batch from the Madhya Pradesh cadre, is set to take charge of a city facing a number of challenges - primary among them being the maintenance of law and order. He will also be responsible for infrastructure development in the capital through his post as chief of the Delhi Development Authority (DDA).

The L-G posting comes after an eventful career that only seemed to begin with Jung's decision to voluntarily retire from the IAS as Joint Secretary (Exploration), Ministry of Petroleum and Gas. Over the years he has served as senior advisor at the Asian Development Bank as well as at various positions on committees related to higher education and development of minorities in the country.

Jung succeeds Khanna, whose tenure as LG saw the Commonwealth Games being conducted in the city as well as the long-awaited regularisation of colonies in the city. Jung will also be inheriting a city plagued with policing concerns, particularly after last year's gang rapemurder incident, making law and order one of his top priorities. He will also be chancellor of Delhi's three state universities, where he will be responsible for spearheading their development.

The Rashtrapati Bhavan also announced a number of other appointments on Monday, most significantly moving former Delhi police commissioner K.K. Paul to take over the post of Governor of Meghalaya from R.S. Moosahary. A 1970-batch IPS officer, Paul was also Member of Union Public Service Commission from July 26, 2007.

The former Southern Army Commander Lt Gen (retd) A.K. Singh is set to take over as the new Lt-Governor of Andaman and Nicobar Island while former Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee president and former Rajya Sabha member Virendra Kataria has been appointed as the new Lt-Governor of Puducherry succeeding Iqbal Singh.


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