In a first, the Haryana Government has created a new post of Chief Governance Coordinator to oversee the affairs of the Gurgaon district administration. Former Director General of Police SN Vashisht has been picked up for the job. Orders regarding the appointment were issued last evening. His term will be for a year from the day he assumes office and he will function from the Haryana Institute of Public Administration in Gurgaon.
According to the order, his job will be to establish coordination among several departments in Gurgaon to ensure smoother functioning, besides resolving land issues. He has been appointed at a salary of Re 1 but will be entitled to other facilities extended to senior officers of his standing.
The move has come as a surprise for civil servants since such a post has been created for the first time in the state and is "bagged" by a retired IPS officer. Vashisth was appointed as the state police chief by the previous Congress government and continued in the post for two months after the BJP assumed power. Later, he was moved in as the Vigilance Bureau chief when the government brought in Yashpal Singal. The new appointment is being seen as his "rehabilitation" after his retirement.