According to an order issued by the Principal Secretary to the Government, Higher Education Department, Dr Asgar Hassan Samoon, the council would be headed by the education minister.
The non-official members of the council include Prof Hamidi Kashmiri, Prof Mohammad Zaman Azurdah, Prof Nazir Ahmad Malik, Prof Noor Mohammad Shah, Prof Ahmad Quddus Javed, Prof Zahoor-ud-Din, Wali Mohammad Aseer, Farooq Muztar, Khalid Bashir Ahmad and Javed Azar.
The official members include vice-chancellors of all central and state universities in the state, administrative secretaries of finance, school education, culture and law departments; secretary of the J&K academy of art, culture and languages, among others.
"Urdu is not just the official language of the state and spoken in all its regions, it is also a vast repository of the cultural heritage of the Indian sub-continent, popularly known as Ganga-Jamni Tehzeeb," Drabu had said.
He said the government had announced forming a Council for Promotion of Urdu Language last year, but that could not get fructified in time.
"This year, the proposed council will be formed without any further delay. I have set aside Rs 2 crore for this purpose," he said.