SS Sukhu regime to shortlist ‘top babus’ soon
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Shimla, Dec 26 – Himachal Pradesh Chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu who took over as new CM on December 11 would soon appoint bureaucrats as incumbent chief secretary RD Dhiman(1988 batch IAS) is about to supernatural on December 31, 2022.
The state government is hunting to find a competent and suitable Indian administrative officer who would have the necessary qualifications and acumen for this coveted berth. Many aspire for this post.
On the seniority list are Ramsubhag Singh (1987 batch), Nisha Singh (1987), Ali Raza Rijvi (1988), Sanjay Gupta (1988), K Sanjay Murthy(1989), Prabodh Saxena (1990). Ram Subhag Singh was replaced by Thakur after a complaint was filed before the Prime minister and BJP government in the Centre raising serious concerns over his public integrity.
Despite being senior most in the hierarchy he is going to retire on July 31, 2023.
Ms Singh who is the spouse of the former is the second contender for the post, she is followed by Rijvi who is on central deputation, Sanjay Gupta and K Sanjay Murthy and Parbodh Saxena.
Keeping the Political challenge to establish himself with respect Sanjay Gupta has been considered a top contender followed by K Sanjay Murthy and Parbodh Saxena. It is a matter of two or three days before the new Chief Secretary is appointed among the above six mentioned officers.
Now onus lies on the maturity and Political wisdom of the new Chief Minister how he braces up the reign of bureaucracy or on state Administration to give good governance to the people.
Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu has already given the green signal to the bureaucracy that like state employees his journey to the post of CM be smooth and usher in a paradigm shift in governance.
He has already assigned homework or tasks to top-level bureaucrats, if they fulfill his expectations the tradition of Administrative shake-ups might be changed by him. Sukhu’s predecessor Jai Ram Thakur had changed six babus as he worked with seven chief secretaries including VC Pharka, Vineet Chaudhary, Dr. Vinay Agarwal, Shrikant Baldi, Anil Kumar Khachi, Ramsubhag Singh and RD Dhiman.
Thakur had shuffled four Chief Secretaries at the start of his term as he tried to strike a seniority balance till, in July 2022 he replaced Ramsubhag Singh with his junior IAS R D Dhiman, superseding four IAS including Ramsubhag Singh, his wife Nisha Singh, Sanjay Gupta and Ali Raza Rijvi.
Four IAS were Advisors in the equal rank of Chief Secretary as Ram Subhag Singh was posted as Principal Advisor for Administrative reforms, Nisha Singh as Principal Advisor (Training and Foreign Assignment) and Sanjay Gupta as Additional Chief Secretary (Redressal of Publics Grevievances). His replacement of Anil Kumar Khachi also raised eyebrows.
Now it is the turn of Sukhu with the supernation of RD Dhiman. He has a number of options before him. The main tasks of the bureaucracy are to support Sukhu in tough challenges like the cement crisis and Old Pension Scheme and suggest resource mobilization which did not affect the general public. An honest and effective bureaucracy is essential for the government.
