SRINAGAR: In a major setback to surviving former chief ministers of the erstwhile state of J&K, who held the post after 1984, the Centre on Tuesday evening stripped them of lifetime privileges like rent-free accommodation, free medical care, pension, Z-plus security for them and their families, and other facilities, including one personnel assistant, one special assistant and two peons. The former CMs who will be affected by this development are Farooq Abdullah , his son Omar Abdullah Mehbooba Mufti and Ghulam Nabi Azad When Farooq was CM in 1996, he had amended the State Legislature Members’ Pension Act, 1984, to add Section 3C, allowing former CMs to enjoy these privileges and benefits. The former CMs will, however, continue to get all the benefits of ex-MLAs.“Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, a member who is entitled to pension under this Act and who has served as Chief Minister of the State, shall be entitled to car, petrol, medical facilities, driver, rent-free furnished accommodation, expenditure to the limit of Rs 35,000 per annum for furnishing of the residential accommodation, free telephone calls up to the value of Rs 48,000 per annum, free electricity to the extent of Rs 1,500 per month, etc.,” the amended Act said.Through a presidential order, the Centre has now scrapped the amendments made to the Act, using Jammu & Kashmir Reorganization (Adaptation of State Laws) Order-2020. On August 5 last year, the Centre had ended the special status of J&K and reorganised the state into two Union Territories.In September last year, the J&K Law Commission, headed by Justice (retd) M K Hanjura, had recommended to the Centre that some provisions in the Act be removed because they “violate the constitutional principles of equality”. In a report submitted to chief secretary BVR Subrahmanyam , he had declared Section 3C (e) and (f) of the Act “arbitrary and not in consonance with any scheme or law”.Barring Farooq and Azad, the other two ex-CMs retain their rent-free government bungalows in Srinagar’s Gupkar Road neighbourhood. While Farooq lives in his private house in Gupkar Road, senior Congress functionary Azad, whenever in Srinagar, stays at his Hyderpora residence. However, they used to enjoy all other benefits of being ex-CMs. While Farooq is the sitting MP from Srinagar, Azad is the leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha The other two ex-CMs, Omar and Mehbooba, have been clinging on to their official residences in Srinagar despite having their private houses here. While Omar has his father’s house just a few houses away from his official residence, Mehbooba has her house at Nowgam in Srinagar.In May 2018, the Supreme Court had quashed an Uttar Pradesh law that guaranteed all former CMs of the state an official bungalow each for life. After that ruling, J&K had remained the only state where an ex-CM could stay on in an official bungalow without even paying rent.