Srinagar, Jan 30 (IANS): J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah sacked his social media advisor following a misleading post on X regarding the honorarium to special police officers (SPOs).

The ruling National Conference (NC) said that the social media advisor to the party’s Vice President Omar Abdullah was sacked after a misleading post on X that claimed credit for the hike in the honorarium of SPOs in J&K.

“A recent post concerning the SPOs' honorarium was shared from various handles connected to the party and the Chief Minister. This post should not have been put out and was done without any attempt to verify or cross-check the information being shared,” NC said.

It added that while the party has been strongly advocating for an increase in the honorarium and is making every effort to see this done, it has not happened till now.

“The person responsible has been taken to task and has been divested of his responsibility as social media advisor to the vice president,” the NC said.

Earlier, a post on the party's official handle had claimed that the Omar Abdullah government had enhanced the honorarium for the SPOs. However, the post was later deleted.

The NC move came in the wake of criticism from various quarters including Peoples Conference (PC), president and MLA Sajad Gani Lone.

"Is it true? The salaries of SPOs are funded by the MHA through SRE (Security Related Expenditure). Still, if the state government has created or invented a way to supplement their salaries—some clarification on that. Per se, it is MHA's domain,” Sajad wrote on X.

During its last meeting, the J&K cabinet had recommended a hike in the monthly honorarium given to the SPOs.

As per the cabinet recommendation, freshly recruited SPOs would get Rs 12,000 per month, those with five years of service Rs 18,000; SPOs with 10 years of service Rs 24,000; and those with 15 years of service Rs 30,000.

The decision to implement the cabinet recommendation lies with the L-G as per the J&K Reorganisation Act 2019.