Will Mitra join back as Chandigarh Municipal Corporation Commissioner?

Even as the Union Government has issued orders for the extension of Anindita Mitra’s deputation here, it is unclear whether she will again join as city MC Commissioner. A 2007-batch IAS officer of the Punjab cadre, Mitra joined her new posting as Secretary, Cooperation, Government of Punjab, and MD, Punjab Cooperative Bank, after her three-year deputation period in UT ended recently.

Since she has been relieved by the UT Administration after her deputation tenure ended, the matter of her extension here is now stuck between the Centre/UT and the Punjab Government. It is possible that the UT Administration will write to the Centre seeking a clarity on the matter, as a panel for the post of MC Commissioner has been sent to the ministry.

This is perhaps for the first time that such a situation has arisen here.

When Mitra’s tenure as MC Commissioner ended, it was not clear till last moment whether she will get extension. She had taken over as MC Commissioner on August 23, 2021, and her three-year tenure ended on August 22 this year.

The UT Administration had written to the Union Government to extend her tenure for three months, but as it got no reply from the Centre. The Punjab Government had sent a panel of three IAS officers for the post of MC Commissioner — Amit Kumar, Ramvir and Girish Dayalan.

A letter from the Department of Personnel and Training, Centre Government, dated September 20, reads: “The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet approved the proposal of the Ministry of Home Affairs for the extension of Anindita Mitra’s tenure as Commissioner, Municipal Corporation, Chandigarh, on inter-cadre deputation from the Punjab cadre to the AGMUT cadre (Chandigarh) for a period of three months beyond August 22, 2024.”