New Delhi, Apr 27: Former bureaucrat N N Vohra was today appointed as Governor of Jammu and Kashmir for a fresh five-year term.
The term of 76-year-old Vohra, who took over as Governor of the state in 2008 when the agitation over land use in Amarnath had led to heightened tensions, was to end on June 25 this year.
“The President of India has been pleased to appoint Shri Narinder Nath Vohra to be the Governor of Jammu and Kashmir for a fresh term on the expiry of his present term,” a Rashtrapati Bhavan communique said.
Vohra was the first person without Army or intelligence background to occupy the gubernatorial post in the state since Jagmohan, who demited office in 1990.
Jagmohan was replaced by former RAW chief Girish Chandra Saxena. Saxena was succeeded by Gen K V Krishna Rao (retd) in 1993. However, Saxena returned to the post in 1998 till Lt Gen S K Sinha took over in 2003.
During his bureaucratic tenure from 1954 to 1994, Vohra served as Union Home and Defence Secretaries. He was recalled from retirement to serve as Principal Secretary to then Prime Minister I K Gujral during 1997-1998.
Vohra was also the chairman of prestigious Institute of Defence Studies and Analysis from 1999 to 2001 and chairman of Military History Review Committee between 2001 and 2002.
A recepient of Padma Vibushan, Vohra, a Punjab cadre IAS officer, took over as Union Home Secretary in the aftermath of serial blasts in Mumbai in 1993. Prior to this, he was Defence Secretary.
