Ex-Chief Secretary Karan Avtar Singh seeks premature retirement for fresh assignment

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 29

Former Chief Secretary Karan Avtar Singh, who has been appointed as chairman of the Punjab Water Regulation and Development Authority (PWRDA), has applied for premature retirement.

The 1984-batch IAS officer, who was replaced by 1987-batch IAS officer Vini Mahajan as the Chief Secretary on June 26, is superannuating on August 31. He had proceeded on leave for two months after handing over the charge to Mahajan.

“The former Chief Secretary was appointed as chairman of the authority on July 1. To enable him to join the new assignment, he has to take premature retirement,” said a senior government functionary.

Karan Avtar was removed as Chief Secretary after his run-in with two Cabinet ministers at a meeting in May even though he had later apologised for his behaviour. The PWRDA chairman will get salary and perks on a par with a serving High Court judge.

The government has appointed Sushil Gupta and Surinder Singh Kukal as members of the authority. Now, the government is all set to appoint a retired bureaucrat as the member-secretary.

Though an advertisement to invite applications is being issued, retired bureaucrat AS Miglani, who has played a key role in drafting the rules and regulations of the authority and related issues, is said to be the frontrunner for the post.