Sonali Kumar is the Seniormost Woman IAS Officer in the Government of Jammu and Kashmir, but she is just another bureaucrat who has been the victim of politicisation of Bureaucracy and frequent transfers. In past 6 years she has been transferred 11 times, the latest being on July 31 . She was posted as Principal Resident Commissioner of Jammu & Kashmir in New Delhi however, within 3 months of posting , Â she was transferred back to J&K for administrative reasons.
However, reports speak that there was severe resentment against her among State Govt Officers from Jammu & Kashmir, because they were not served Kebab and Biryani while their visit to New Delhi for Planning Commission Meeting in April. Also, they were made to stay in Jammu and Kashmir House, while some officers got chance to stay at Hotel Ashoka at New Delhi.
Angry Sonali complains that, “I was transferred because I didn’t serve goshtaba and kebabs for lunch. And this when the state is so in the red that we find it difficult even to pay the salaries of employees. I am hurt by the decision of the Cabinet. I will work wherever the government posts me”.
While they were served Sandwiches and Diet Coke, they wrote in their Complaint that they were served Dal-Pani.
“They wrote ‘dal’ in their complaint as it has a bad connotation in Kashmir. They worked on the chief minister; and I was transferred out to a tribunal”, explains Sonali, whose husband  is Financial Commissioner of J&K.
She also complains that it was due to her objection against extravagant spending of officers that earned her several enemies.  She has also objected to the inflated bills of Biryani sent by her subordinates.
“I was sent Rs.20,000 biryani bills. How could I clear those? Also, cars were allotted to all and sundry,” justifies Sonali.
In a letter to Cabinet Secretary Ajit Sheth, Sonali alleges that “any officer who dares to stand up and challenge this atmosphere in accordance with the principles enshrined in the Constitution of India is promptly labeled as ‘insensitive (to Kashmiri sensibilities), obdurate… Indian agent’, and is shunted out prematurely to an obscure post, with sub optimal CRs to boot.In my own case, I had to endure 11 transfers in 6 years.”
In the past Sonali had also earned the ire of Separatists when she objected the Arabisation of  Uniforms in the Schools and the diktat of compulsory Burka for Girls.  Her often encouragement to the students to sing the Indian national anthem during college functions, also created problems for her in the Indian State of Jammu and Kashmir.
57 year old Sonali is a 1979 batch IAS Officer from Jammu and Kashmir. She was originally allotted the Kerala cadre but got it changed to Jammu and Kashmir when she married.