Advisor to J&K CM Mehbooba Mufti, Amitabh Mattoo resigns

JAMMU: Former Vice Chancellor of Jammu University Amitabh Mattoo, advisor to Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, today tendered his resignation citing personal reasons.

"Yes, I have tendered my resignation due to personal reasons. I want to spend some time with my family," Mattoo, who was appointed as an advisor in April this year with the status of a cabinet minister, said.

Sources close to him said he will be leaving for Australia in a few days to pursue a career in academics.

53-year-old Mattoo had served as an advisor to the then Chief Minister Mufti Mohmmad Sayeed in August last year but had to relinquish the post in wake of the Sayeed's death in January this year.

He had earlier served as Chief Executive Officer and inaugural Director of the Australia India Institute and Professor of International Relations at the University of Melbourne in Australia.

Former member of the National Knowledge Commission, a high-level advisory group to the Prime Minister of India, Mattoo is on leave from prestigious Jawaharlal Nehru University where he serves as a Professor of Disarmament Studies at the School of International Studies.

He has the rare distinction of being the youngest Vice Chancellor when he was appointed to hold the post at Jammu University from November 2002 to December 2008.