New Delhi (19.06.2023): Immediately after the empanelment of 23 IAS officers including 21 from the 1992 batch for holding Secretary or Secretary equivalent post, the New Delhi dispensation on June 13 effected a major bureaucratic rejig. The list, which comprised 15 names including secretaries, OSDs, lateral shift and post-retirement appointment on contractual basis, drew attention prompting to look beyond obvious. Here is the read between the lines:
Reshuffle of largely 1991 & 1992 batch of IAS officers:
Order passed on late last Tuesday evening is largely about posting of 1991 batch of IAS officers awaiting their turn for months and freshly empaneled 1992 batch IAS officers. However, the list also included Gujarat cadre officers RP Gupta (Retd IAS: 1987) and Bharat Lal (Retd IFoS: 1988). In-situ elevation of P K Tiwari (IAS: 1991: AM), BIS DG and Vijay Kumar (IAS: 1992: UT), Ministry of Cooperation from Additional Secretary to Special Secretary rank followed a normal course. The appointment of Vibhu Nayar (IAS: 1990: TN) as Secretary (OSD) Tribal Affairs w.e.f. 01.12.2023 just 11 days after empanelment was well received by his peers.
Fair share for 1991 batch still a long wait for Ms Dawra:
Five officers from the 1991 batch made it to the list. Three got Secretary-level posting while two got Secretary-equivalent posts. T K Ramachandran (TN) got Shipping; Debashree Mukherjee (UT), Water Resources and Nivedita Shukla Verma (UP), Chemicals & PetroChemicals.
Similarly, S Gopalakrishnan (TN), Renu Gonela Pillay (CG) and Seema Jain (PB) got posting as DG NPC, SC Commission (NCSC) and Member Finance in Space Commission, respectively.
Meanwhile, Sumita Dawra (AP) and PK Tiwari still await Secretary-level posting. Barring the two all in the batch, empanelled and posted at the Centre, got Secretary-level berth.
This assumes significance when at least five Secretary-level vacancies will be available by November this year.
Four firsts from 1992: Is quick posting a catch?
Out of the total 32 officers (1992) empanelled in five tranches for holding Additional Secretary and Equivalent posts, only 21 made it to the first list of Secretary or Equivalent posts of which four joined the league of four firsts to get posting namely; Pankaj Agrawal (Power), Chanchal Kumar (Civil Aviation), Rajat Kumar Mishra (Fertilizers) and SCL Das (MSME).
Compared to the senior batches, the 1992 batch had the privilege of quick postings within 11 days of empanelment. Officers across services and batches are of the view that the 1992 batch stands out with regard to the gap between empanelment and posting. For example, 1989 batch had to wait for over six months for posting despite many from the batch (Anurag Jain, K Srinivas, Lok Ranjan & Sujata Chaturvedi) were placed in key positions in the PMO and DoPT that matters in advancing the process.
Early LS Polls: Reality or figment of imagination?
A section of who’s who is of the view that the New Delhi dispensation is in a hurry to fast track empanelment and filling vacancies in advance. So secretary-level postings by 11 major notifications at various levels were issued in the last 20 days. The series of decisions started on May 25 with the appointment of 50 senior ED officers and later on massive transfers of over 46 UT cadre officers including IAS, IPS & DANIPS. All put together fanned rumours of early Lok Sabha elections.
Covering vacancies up to November: A misnomer:
Following the empanelment and Secretary-level postings, a section of who’s who opined that the NaMo 0.2 dispensation was in a hurry to saturate Secretary-level vacancies up to November. Apparently, they missed the fact that the dispensation by not considering four vacancies (Telecom, MeITY, Pharmaceuticals and Panchayati Raj) occurring before November thus disapproving the conjecture of early LS polls.
Post-retirement appointments: Significance?
Two former Gujarat cadre AIS officers getting post-retirement positions also drew much attention. After retirement as Secretary, Lokpal of India Bharat Lal became DG, National Centre for Good Governance and now DG, NHRC on a contract basis.
Ahead of LS polls human rights issues may gather pace and space making Lal’s new post important.
Appointment of former Union Secretary for Environment, Forests and Climate Change Rameshwar Prasad Gupta as new CMD of SECI also captured the imagination. A glance of the incumbency chart at SECI; Suman Sharma (IRS IT: 1990) and JN Swain (IAS: 1988: TN) as Gupta’s predecessors gives some insight into the importance and role of SECI.
Unpredictability still a hallmark:
Reportedly, a few senior officers outside key offices had some idea of the long list of Union secretaries being prepared. Some of them had the idea of numbers (batch and gender wise) but were absolutely clueless about names. Not surprisingly, the incumbent dispensation considers unpredictability as its brand equity.
Sources say that almost all officers were surprised to see their name on the list. For example, Atal Dulloo (1989: J&K/UT), presently in the cadre, was awaiting his turn to become J&K Chief Secretary after Arun Kumar Mehta (1988) retires in November 2023. He had no reason to expect Secretary-level posting (Border Management under MHA) as he was yet to be empanelled for holding Secretary-level post.
Making exceptions a norm:
Atal Dulloo and TK Ramachandran (1991:TN) added to the list of exceptions. Both are empanelled for holding Secretary-equivalent posts yet both of them got Secretary-level berths in the Department of Border Management and Ministry of Shipping, respectively.
Recently, Saurabh Garg (1991:OR) too got empanelled for holding Secretary-level post three days after his appointment as Secretary, Social Justice & Empowerment. Not surprising, like Garg; Atal Dulloo and TK Ramachandran stand a chance in the next review. Worth noticing that Parliamentary Affairs Secretary Gudey Srinivas (1990: OR) still awaits empanelment for Secretary-level post.
Clearly, exceptions are made norms now.
Consistency Vs Experience & Expertise:
The latest list of newly appointed secretaries suggests that expertise and experience was given preference over consistency.
The shifting of Sudhansh Pant from Shipping to Health & Family Welfare (MoHFW) within five months made a buzz. Two months after joining as OSD (Shipping), he took over as full-fledged Shipping Secretary in February this year and by mid-June moved to Health.
MoHFW is considered to be a bigger ministry and important ahead of the LS polls, so it appears to be home coming as well as elevation yet throws light on consistency theory. Having served as Joint Secretary, Pharmaceuticals and later in MoHFW and key assignment during COVID-19, the New Delhi establishment would have assessed experience and expertise more advantageous but while doing so it apparently ignored its own principle of consistency.
Reduced gap in successive empanelment is termed as Centre’s strategy for a large pool of expertise, longer tenure and consistency but a shift from Shipping to Health within five months makes another exception. However, making VO Chidambaranar Port Trust Chairman TK Ramachandran as Pant’s successor in Shipping justifies the expert angle.
Does peers’ opinion matter?
Another posting that captured the imagination was of Nivedita Shukla Verma (1991: UP). Currently, Special Secretary, Department of Defence, she made it as OSD in the Department of Chemicals and PetroChemicals where she will wait till August 31 to take over from Arun Baroka (1990: UT) as Secretary.
Many across batches beginning 1980 or so often made it a point that she is the one who entertains none, means business and maintains zero pliability quotient. Under the present dispensation it’s an advantageous eligibility but among peers it is often seen unwelcoming. Not surprising, several officers of senior batches claim her posting in Petrochem, a low key-post, an absolute fit.
No conjecture works in this dispensation:
Last but not the least, in view of expertise and consistency theory, shortly after the empanelment of Puneet Kumar Goel (IAS: 1991: UT) for holding Secretary-level post many of his batchmates presumed him to be a natural successor of the outgoing Power Secretary Alok Kumar primarily in view of Goel’s terms of service till August 2026 and academics in electricals (B Tech- IIT Kanpur, MTech from US and PhD- IIT Delhi) and experience as Director in MoP and later in REC Limited. But here lies the catch. No conjecture works in this dispensation.
(By Rakesh Ranjan)
ALSO READ: (Click to read)
