Dilli Ka Babu
Reshuffle & Karma
After the regime change in Himachal Pradesh, the newly appointed chief minister Virbhadra Singh reshuffled senior babus in the hill state even before he allocated portfolios to his Cabinet colleagues. Clearly, the new chief minister wanted to distance himself quickly from his predecessor’s administration. But, observers note, the reshuffle is also indicative of the new pecking order in babudom, especially impacting those who were seen to be closely allied to the previous BJP government.
Among the changes introduced by Virbhadra Singh, Deepak Sanan, principal secretary for power, and Manisha Nanda, principal secretary for personnel, were divested of their responsibilities as was Bharat Khera, who was managing director of HP State Industrial Corporation.
Mr Khera is now secretary for general administration. Similarly, additional chief secretary P. Mitra, who also holds charge of agriculture, has been given a further responsibility of rural development. This, of course, is just an early hint of a more elaborate reshuffle of babus in Himachal Pradesh.
AP govt in a fix
Andhra Pradesh chief minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy is in a fix over naming the state’s new chief secretary to succeed Minnie Mathew who retires at the end of the month. The chief commissioner of land administration (CCLA) is usually elevated to chief secretary when a vacancy arises.
Unfortunately, what is queering the pitch while deciding on Ms Mathew’s successor is that the current CCLA, M. Samuel, is facing a CBI investigation in a land allotment case. This has opened up the field for other potential candidates to push their case. Sources say J. Satyanarayana, a 1977 batch officer, is the senior most but has lost the opportunity as he chose to go on Central deputation.
Others whose names are being mentioned include I.V. Subba Rao, P.K. Mohanty and I.Y.R. Krishna Rao. If the government cannot make up its mind, many believe that Ms Mathew may find her tenure extended.
CBI heat in U.P.
Babus in Uttar Pradesh, especially those considered close to former chief minister Mayawati, are feeling the heat as the CBI investigates various scams that occurred during her party’s rule. Even as the CBI sleuths are probing former Cabinet secretary Shashank Shekhar Singh in the multi-crore scam in the civil aviation department, another bureaucrat too is under investigation.
Senior IAS officer Navneet Sehgal’s assets are being probed by the agency’s sleuths. Mr Sehgal is currently secretary in the department of religious affairs, but also happens to be one of Ms Mayawati’s favoured officers. There are many in Uttar Pradesh who are anxious to know who else is under the CBI scanner.
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