Haryana's 1990 batch IAS officers: A seniority dispute clouds Chief Secretary appointment

The 1990-batch has five IAS officers in the Haryana cadre--- Anurag Rastogi, Sumita Misra, Sudhir Rajpal, Anand Mohan Sharan and Dr Raja Shekar Vundru---after the retirement of Ankur Gupta.

The 1990 batch of Haryana IAS officers is in limelight due to significant administrative developments within the state. The post of Chief Secretary has fallen vacant after 1989-batch officer Vivek Joshi who occupied the position was appointed Election Commissioner. While Sudhir Rajpal is the senior-most officer according to the gradation list, Anurag Rastogi is expected to be made Chief Secretary. Rastogi, currently serving as the Financial Commissioner, Revenue, and Additional Chief Secretary (Finance), had previously held the position of Chief Secretary on an interim basis. This development has intensified discussions regarding the seniority and roles of the 1990-batch officers.

The seniority dispute among the IAS officers of the 1990-batch arose after three officers—Ankur Gupta, Anurag Rastogi and Raja Sekhar Vundru—challenged the present gradation list after over 30 years. They claimed that Sudhir Rajpal, the seniormost as per this list, and Sumita Misra, placed above them, should in fact be lower in the pecking order since they had been transferred from Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir, respectively.

The Haryana government referred the issue of seniority to the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) for resolution. However, the DoPT put the ball right back in the state government's court and asked it to resolve the matter. Since then, the state has had two Chief Secretaries---TVSN Prasad and Vivek Joshi---and neither took any decision in the matter. Even though the seniority issue is undecided, Anurag Rastogi was given charge of the Chief Secretary on Prasad's superannuation and before Joshi joined his home cadre from central deputation. Rastogi was later posted as Financial Commissioner, Revenue, a position occupied by the senior-most officer. This has fuelled speculation of him being elevated as CS after the vacancy at the top.

As of now, the dispute is still under the review of the government. There has been no decision yet in the matter which has been hanging fire after the DoPT sent it back to the state government. Though the seniority in gradation list remains unchanged and one of the officers who challenged the seniority has since retired, Rastogi has been made FCR while Rajpal and Misra have been posted as ACS, Health, and ACS, Home, respectively.