Surplus posts of Addl Chief Secy under lens

Pratibha Chauhan

Tribune News Service

Shimla, July 9

Though it is a practice to give Additional Chief Secretary (ACS) rank to IAS officers, completing 30 years of service, an audit objection could force the government to rethink on the issue as there are nine ACS against the provision of having only four in Himachal.

The issue has come to fore with an audit objection in the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report on the appointment of nine ACS without the approval of the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) at the Centre. The four, who are entitled to the approved post, include Chief Secretary Vineet Chawdhry, Adviser to the government VC Pharka, ACS (Health) BK Aggarwal and Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister Srikant Baldi.

The five officers, whose appointments are opposed by the CAG, include Manisha Nada, Anil Khachi, Ram Subhag Singh, Tarun Kapoor and Nisha Singh. “The five posts of ACS were created temporarily for two years by the previous Congress regime,” said sources. After the completion of the two-year term, the approval from the DoPT had to be sought.

The practice to create posts of ACS is a routine affair. The officers, who have been given the ACS rank on the completion of 30 years of service, get the scale of Rs 2.25 lakh per month, equivalent to that being given to the Chief Secretary. The CAG objection coincides with a proposal to give ACS rank to two other officers - RD Dhiman and Sanjay Gupta.

The proposal has been sent by the state government to the DoPT for approval. However, now with the CAG objection on the creation of five additional posts of ACS, the issue might get even more complicated.

Sources said the government could, under the IAS Cadre Rules 1954, grant ACS rank to officers again for two years by getting it approved from the Cabinet to avoid any legal wrangles.

Questions likely on extra PCCF posts 

The creation of extra posts of Principal Chief Conservator Forest (PCCF) too could come under the scanner of  the Centre. An ‘82 batch IFS officer GS Goraya, PCCF and Head of Forest, is retiring this month. The file for the appointment of a new PCCF has been sent to the Centre. As such, the issue of having appointed more PCCFs than the approved posts could also be raked up.