Worst administrative crisis stares state in the face

Pratibha Chauhan

Tribune News Service

Shimla, December 29

The shortage of IAS officers is likely to aggravate with Additional Chief Secretary (Health) Vineet Chawdhry seeking extra-ordinary leave (EOL) to join a private company in Delhi.

Sources said the state government today gave a non-objection certificate (NoC) for allowing EOL to Chawdhry, who is due to retire on September 30, 2018. He is the fourth seniormost officer serving in the state after Chief Secretary P Mitra, Deepak Sanan ACS (Forest) and ACS (Transport) Ajay Mittal, who is moving on Central deputation.

The sources said with the state government giving its consent for EOL to Chawdhry, his case would now be sent to the Department of Personnel and Training in Delhi, as he was an All-India Service Officer. It is almost certain that Chawdhry’s wife Upma Chawdhry, ASC (Agriculture), will also seek Central deputation.

It is also learnt that Chawdhry has apprised the government of his plans to join Philips India Private Ltd at Noida after seeking EOL and has furnished a copy of the offer letter from the company with a hefty pay package.

Ajay Mittal is likely to move on Central deputation and the state government has already given its consent. He has been empanelled for the Secretary level at the Centre and is awaiting his posting. As such the shortage of officers with two senior officers Mittal and Chawdhry moving to Delhi, could get even worse.

Even though Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh has, on several occasions, said no IAS officer would be allowed to proceed on Central deputation as there was shortage of bureaucrats but exceptions had been made every now and then. The list of officers who are keen to move to Delhi is quite long.

Officers whose request for Central deputation is pending with the Personnel Department are Sanjeev Gupta, ACS (Information Technology), Pushpender Rajput, Secretary to Governor, Priyanka Basu Ingty and Pratyush Mandal, two middle-level IAS officers.

With Mittal and Chawdhry moving to Delhi, an administrative reshuffle is likely to take place. Some of the ACS-rank officers are already burdened with work and looking after almost half-a-dozen departments as many who were due to return after Central deputation have got their stay extended.

In such a situation, the government may find it difficult to find suitable officers for being posted as Deputy Commissioners in the districts as well as Secretaries and ACS in the secretariat.