In nearly four months of his appointment as the first Special Officer of MCD his priority is bound to shift from MCD to the Home-Affairs of NCT of Delhi. 

Following yesterday’s posting order various questions popped up whether Kumar now remains a symbolic or supervisory head of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) or whether the Delhi administration needs an upright and rule-stickler officer as Principal Secretary, Home. 

A section of insiders says that Kumar’s term as the Special Officer of MCD was just a temporary arrangement for the post-merger transition phase. 

Another section believes that by drafting him as Home Secretary the MHA has indicated that the active phase of his role in MCD is over as handling ‘Home’ is now his prime responsibility instead of MCD.   

It is also presumed that the planning and administration at MCD, Post-merger, have become increasingly complex and demand pragmatism to handle the affairs. Contrary to this belief Ashwani Kumar is often applauded for handling Puducherry's complex affairs when former Lt. Governor Kiran Bedi and former Chief Minister V Narayanasamy often clashed.

There are people who look at this development from a different perspective. They believe that the new role given to Kumar is not very exciting as Delhi Police (DP) functions more under the direct control of MHA yet they overlook the fact that the Principal Secretary, Home has a vast responsibility of maintaining Law and Order situation in the Govt of National Capital Territory of Delhi.

Moreover, Kumar’s batch is all set for empanelment as Secretary by the end of this year. So is he likely to see another role change by the Year 2023 as Secretary at the Centre?

Unified MCD gets its first Special Officer and a Commissioner (20.05.2022)