The Jammu and Kashmir government on Wednesday ordered the abolition of all independent state commissions from October 31, when the state will become a Union Territory.

The state Human Rights Commission, Information Commission, Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, Electricity Regulatory Commission, Commission for Protection of Women and Child Rights, Commission for Persons with Disabilities, and Accountability Commission will cease to exist from next week.

The chairpersons or presidents, and members of these commissions will cease to hold office from October 31. The government instructed the panels’ staff to report to the concerned administrative departments from October 30.

The vehicles allotted to the commissions from time to time, or purchased for them, has to be handed over to the director of the state motor vehicles department, the government added.

The state administration asked the commissions’ secretaries to hand over the buildings where the panels are housed, along with furniture and electronic gadgets, to the director of the estates department. The secretaries will also have to transfer all records of their commissions to the concerned departments, it added.

India abrogated Jammu and Kashmir’s special constitutional status on August 5. It also divided the state into two Union Territories by passing the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019.

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