Krishan Kumar set to be back as Secretary (Education)

Aparna Banerji

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, June 26

Six years after he fell prey to Akali “politics” and said goodbye to the Education Department, the Congress government in the state has brought back IAS officer Krishan Kumar as Secretary, Education.

While murmurs within the department said he was brought in at the instance of the Education Minister Aruna Chaudhary to streamline the crisis the state education is faced with, the CM himself reportedly gave a go-ahead to Kumar.

Education Minister Aruna Chaudhary said, “For the past 10 years, nothing has been done in the field of education. There are so many anomalies which have to be fixed. A change was expected for long and when the matter was discussed, Kumar’s name came up. He is an experienced IAS officer with a good track record and was thought to be a good replacement.”

Reacting whether Kumar’s name was suggested by her, she said, “I thought he was a good choice but the final prerogative was with the CM. So certainly the go-ahead came from him.”

While he was posted previously as the DGSE, School Education, he has now joined as Secretary, School Education, which shall see him having even a greater say than his previous tenure.

Kumar’s ouster from the department by the then Akali government in 2011 (as Director of the National Rural Health Mission) had come in the wake of a stand-off following then Education Minister Sewa Singh Sekhwan’s move to withdraw his DGSE powers over the suspension of some teachers and appointment of teachers of the SSA.

According to sources, Kumar’s reputation precedes him. Such is the impact of the announcement that the buzz within the department is that even as honest workers cheer, teachers are spending sleepless nights and DEOs have begun burning the midnight oil to do their homework in anticipation of a meeting with Kumar (who is known to thoroughly quiz DEOs, spring a volley of questions at them during meets).

Strictly against sycophancy, Kumar was known for his unique ways – he would reprimand officials for presenting him bouquets (asking them which funds were procured, hold written tests of DEOs, make frequent and random surprise visits to schools and issue on-the-spot suspensions when faced with serious lapses).

Murmurs are already on in the department that the era of favouritism within the department will come to a close if he is allowed to have his way.

When contacted and asked on his plans, Krishan Kumar said he couldn’t comment since he was yet to formally take up the post. However, he said he was looking forward to joining the Education Department.