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Secretary Defense Production; Will Binoy Kumar's case be similar to Ms Srivastava?

By IndianMandarins- 30 Oct 2017
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secretary-defense-production-ashok-kumar-gupta-a-k-gupta-ministry-of-defenceSpeculations are rife over the successor to Defence Production Secretary Ashok Kumar Gupta (IAS:1981:TN) who is scheduled to retire tomorrow. These speculations have placed Binoy Kumar (IAS:1983:TG) among the foremost contenders in view of his age, seniority, and tenure - as also his closeness to the center of power. Kumar also has strong credentials; his batchmates think highly of his competence and personal integrity. He is also said to be close to Ex-Finance Secretary R P Wattal who's now part of the Economic Advisory Council to the PM (EAC-PM). Binoy Kumar is junior to Defence Secretary Sanjay Mitra (IAS:1982:WB) and his service may take him through May 2020. During his career, he has spent a good time in the Defence Ministry, too. This point may also favor his appointment. However, in a December 2016 review, Binoy Kumar was empanelled only as Secretary Equivalent and not as Secretary or secretary equivalent. According to a decades' old convention, important assignments like defense production are given only to officers empanelled as a secretary or secretary equivalent. Usually, those empanelled as 'Secretary equivalent' are given less important posts with the only exception of Ms. Snehlata Srivastava (Retd IAS:1982:MP) who was posted as Secretary, Dept of Justice, despite having been empanelled as 'Secretary equivalent'. It remains to be seen whether Binoy Kumar's case will be similar to Ms. Srivastava.  

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