Second reshuffle in Khattar''s CMO in a year, Khullar gets lion''s share as before

Sushil Manav

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 24

The Chief Minister's Office in Haryana on Tuesday witnessed another reshuffle, second in the past one year, with CM Manohar Lal Khattar's Principal Secretary Rajesh Khullar getting the lion's share as before with 19 departments.

Khattar's Additional Principal Secretary Rakesh Gupta comes next with charge of 11 important departments.

In the re-allocation of departments, which comes within almost four months of the last reshuffle held on March 19, Khullar will handle all matters related to legislative business, development and panchayats, ayush, excise and taxation, finance, power, food and civil supplies, forests and wildlife, general administration and personnel, health, home, criminal investigation and administration of justice, industry and mines, medical education, PWD (Buildings and Roads), revenue, rehabilitation and consolidation, higher education, school education, technical education and town and country planning.

Khullar will also be overall in charge of CMO, CMO establishment and also look after subjects not allotted to anyone else.

Khattar's Additional Principal Secretary Rakesh Gupta will handle cooperation, electronics and IT, industrial training and vocational education, public health engineering, renewable energy, social justice and empowerment, labour and employment, welfare of SCs and STs, women and child development, cultural affairs and agriculture.

Gupta gets labour and employment from CM's OSD Amarender Singh and cultural affairs from another OSD Capt Bhupinder who has since been appointed chairman of Confed.

Mandeep Singh Brar, Deputy Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister, will handle elections, architecture, environment, housing, irrigation, science and technology, fisheries, animal husbandry and urban local bodies.

Brar gets urban local bodies from Gupta while animal husbandry is also a new addition to his departments.

Rajneesh Garg, Aide De Camp (Tours), will look after the jails and transport while IFS officer Alok Verma, another ADC, will look after sports and youth affairs, and tourism as before.

OSD Amarjit Singh will deal with matters related to the CM Relief Fund, the Chief Minister's announcements, Waqf and the Haryana Rural Development Fund.

OSD Amarendra Singh who lost labour and employment to Gupta will now look after printing and stationary and archaeology and museum, while Bhupeshwar Dayal will look after archive and grievances.

Before March 19 reshuffle, the CM office had witnessed re-distribution of departments on August 19 last year.

Sources in the CMO said this is a routine reshuffle necessitated largely due to exit of Capt Bhupinder in May this year.