Bureaucratic Reshuffle in Haryana: V Umashankar is new additional principal secretary to CM; Ashima Brar appointed as nodal officer of Beti Bachao-Beti Padhao

BLACKBUCK: Haryana's state animal

IN A major bureaucratic rejig, the Haryana government on Monday transferred 17 IAS officers, among others from the state civil services. Ashima Brar, 2004 batch IAS, will be the new deputy principal secretary to Haryana chief minister and also the nodal officer of Beti Bachao-Beti Padhao programme. Meanwhile, the CEO of Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority, V Umashankar, has been appointed as additional principal secretary to CM of Haryana. Here below are the details of 11 of the appointments: 

Know Your Babu: Newly-appointed MHA additional secretary Rajni Sekhri Sibal is also an author on cows

LAST week, 1986 batch Haryana cadre lAS Ms Rajni Sekhri Sibal was appointed as additional secretary in the ministry of home affairs (MHA). She was working as the Director General in the National Institute of Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development (NIESBUD) when the order came. But here’s a factoid about this officer. This 58 years old bureaucrat is also the author of “Kamadhenu: Cows of India”, one of the few well-researched books on cows and possibly the only one written by an experienced bureaucrat. The book is more of a…

Haryana IAS Ashok Khemka is transferred again; “Vested interests win”, the officer reacts

SENIOR Haryana cadre IAS Ashok Khemka is transferred again — 51st time in his 26 years long career, according to reports. After the Haryana government on Sunday announced the transfer of this 1991 batch IAS as principal secretary, sports and youth affairs, Khemka likened his transfer to “crash landing”, adding that “vested interests win”. This is exactly what Khemka tweeted on Sunday:

2 premature repatriations including one of home minister’s PS; also 1 extension, 1 additional charge

A DAY before the Diwali, the Central government issued a number of orders including two premature repatriations, one extension of Central deputation tenure and bestowing of additional charge of the post of a Union secretary. The one of the repatriations was that of the private secretary of union home minister Rajnath Singh. Here below are the details of the 4 orders:

HARYANA IAS RESHUFFLE: Ashok Khemka transferred to dept of social justice; Rajni Sekhri Sibal, others transferred

IN A major administrative reshuffle at senior level in Haryana, the state government transferred 13 IAS officers including nine additional chief secretaries and three principal secretaries, the most notable being Ashok Khemka of 1991 batch who hogged the limelight during the UPA regime for canceling the mutation of the land deal between Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law Robert Vadra and real estate major DLF. Khemka who is currently the principal secretary in the ministry of science and technology in Haryana government will now be…

IAS officer Jitendra Gupta seeks cadre change from Bihar on grounds of “threat to life and property”; DoPT seeks IB report

AFTER 2013 batch IAS officer Dr Jitendra Gupta sought cadre change from Bihar to Haryana on the grounds of extreme hardship including “threat to life and property”, a committee headed by union personnel secretary has decided to seek a report from the Intelligence Bureau (IB) regarding such threats before taking a call on the proposal, according to the minutes of the meeting held on May 1. The exact nature of the threat and who threatened the IAS officer were however not mentioned in the minutes of the  meeting. Here below are eight cases of inter cadre deputation, repatriation etc. including that of Gupta:

More about the IAS couple of Chandigarh-Panchkula -- Gauri Prasher Joshi and Ajit Balaji Joshi

Pinjore Garden in Panchkula

LAST WEEK, 2009 batch Odisha cadre IAS Gauri Prasher Joshi was appointed as deputy commissioner of Panchkula, a planned Haryana city adjoining the union territory of Chandigarh that houses the capitals of both Punjab and Haryana. Significantly, Chandigarh’s deputy commissioner and 2003 batch IAS Ajit Balaji Joshi of Haryana cadre is Gauri Prasher’s husband. With Gauri Prasher’s appointment, Panchkula gets third deputy commissioner in one year. A product of St. Stephens college, Ms Joshi did her journalism from…

Govt may prematurely repatriate Dr Adapa Karthik to Punjab cadre; asks KS Raj to wait before getting inter-cadre deputation to UP

THE government may soon prematurely repatriate 2008 batch Punjab cadre IAS Dr Adapa Karthik from AGMUT (Chandigarh administration) to Punjab cadre, but has rejected the proposal of inter cadre deputation of 2011 batch Punjab cadre IAS Kumar Saurabh Raj from Punjab cadre to Uttar Pradesh cadre, as he has not completed the required service of nine years in the cadre to be eligible for inter-cadre deputation, according to...

Yoga practice sessions begin in the run-up to June 21 celebrations; senior Haryana bureaucrats forced to wake up early today

IN THE run-up to the International Yoga Day celebrations in Chandigarh on June 21, which is scheduled to be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, bureaucrats from Haryana to New York have swung into action in holding or even participating in practice sessions. Senior bureaucrats in Haryana, many of whom were visibly reluctant, had to wake up early in the morning today (Tuesday) as the state chief secretary issued a…

Do you know India’s new finance secretary Ashok Lavasa is also an avid photographer?

A photo exhibition by Ashok and Novel Lavasa (File photo)

DO YOU know, India’s new finance secretary and 1980 batch Haryana cadre IAS Ashok Lavasa is an avid photographer? On Tuesday, the government designated Lavasa as finance secretary, following the convention of designating the senior-most of the five secretaries in the ministry of finance as the finance secretary. Lavasa, holding the post of secretary, expenditure, is ranked higher than his batch mate of Tamil Nadu cadre…

What happened to IAS Mona Sreenivas’ extension of deputation? And Parshant Goyal’s request for Punjab?

A PANEL headed by DoPT secretary Saniay Kothari has sought clarifications in writing from Haryana cadre IAS couple, A Mona Sreenivas and A Sreenivas, before taking a call on the wife’s request for extension of deputation tenure in AGMUT for two more years. Mona Sreenivas is a 2006 batch Haryana cadre IAS whereas her husband, now on deputation in Telangana is a 2004 batch Haryana IAS. The panel took up the case as Mona Sreenivas requested for extension of deputation period for a further period of two years beyond July 11, 2016 on personal grounds. But her husband A Sreenivas also…

“Holding a lower rank post is humiliating”; No Achche Din for Haryana IAS Ashok Khemka

1991 BATCH Haryana cadre IAS Ashok Khemka who hit the headlines in 2012 for canceling the mutation of a multi-crore land deal between Congress president Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law Robert Vadra and realty company DLF, says he is currently holding a low rank post which is “humiliating”. His statement which he had posted in Twitter on Wednesday assumes significance as Vadra figured in BJP’s elections campaign both in the run-up to the Lok Sabha poll and Haryana assembly elections, and Khemka — the bureaucrat who ordered probe in Vadra’s land deal, thereby indirectly (not intentionally) helping the BJP to dislodge the incumbent Congress government, became a big star among the BJP supporters and common people. Now, there is a BJP government in Haryana, but Khemka’s Achche Din is yet to arrive. Khemka said:

Officers who praised IPS Sangeeta Kalia’s courage and the one who calls her transfer a political decision

TV garb as the spat continued between IPS Kalia and minister Vij

A FEW IPS officers, the IPS association and a large number of common men and women took to social media sites on Saturday to support 2010 batch IPS officer Sangeeta Kalia who was transferred a day after a video clip of her public spat with Haryana health minister Anil Vij went viral. A few officers however indirectly supported minister Vij in this Neta-Vs-Babu saga. Before talking about who all supported the young IPS, and who were on the minister’s side, let’s first present here the excerpt of the spat in a public meeting that was held on Friday in Fatehabad, Haryana:

Did you miss Khemka’s “Sicilian mafia” comment? And guess why Shailaja Chandra was so happy on Tuesday

Ashok Khemka

DID you miss how Haryana IAS Ashok Khemka compared Vyapam of Madhya Pradesh with Sicilian mafia? Or what former Kerala IAS K Mohandas witnessed in London last week?  And guess which of the two --IAS or IPS Association -- actually condemned “threats and intimidation” of Amitabh Thakur? Finally, why was former IAS Shailaja Chandra so happy on Tuesday? Read on:

Meet Nirupama Rao, the poet; who are other bureaucrat-poets?

DID you know, India’s former foreign secretary and 1973 batch retired IFS Nirupama Rao has a private passion -- writing poems? The former diplomat on Thursday released two of her poems -- one on life in Jaffna (2005) and the other on women safety in Delhi (2011) in a social media site. Over a decade ago, Rao came out with a poetry book titled “Rain Rising Poems”. First, a part of a poem on city of Delhi written by Rao:

Know Your Babu: 2 new cabinet secretariat JS, Tuhin Kant Pandey and Deepti Umashankar

Deepti Umashankar, IAS

CABINET secretariat has recently got two new faces, 1987 batch Odisha cadre IAS Tuhin Kant Pandey, currently in Planning Commission and 1993 batch Haryana cadre IAS Deepti Umashankar, now in DoPT. One is an MBA from a UK school, and the other knows French! Let’s know more about these two officers: Pandey and Umashankar.

Haryana IAS Sukriti Likhi to return home; new vacancy for counsellor (economic) in Washington DC

Sukriti Likhi

DEPUTY secretary and director-level officers may apply for the post of counsellor (economic) in the economic wing of embassy of India in Washington DC, as the term of 1993 batch Haryana cadre IAS Sukriti Likhi is ending soon. Like many a mistake in the past, (Read: DoPT mistakes), the DoPT circular dated April 28, 2014, termed Mrs Likhi as a…

Damaad Shree Video: BJP drags UPSC member and retired Haryana cadre IAS to Robert Vadra land deals

A RETIRED IAS officer of Haryana cadre and current UPSC member Chhatar Singh has been on BJP’s firing line, as the principal opposition party on Sunday sharpened its attack on Robert Vadra’s land deals by releasing a video named “Damaad Shree” and accusing Haryana government and earlier Congress-led Rajasthan regime of colluding with Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law in expediting out-of-turn…

Khemka Vs Dhillon, Roshan Lal: Will Haryana IAS war take more twists?

WHISTLE-BLOWER Haryana IAS Ashok Khemka, against whom the state government recently filed two charge-sheets, has accused two of his seniors belonging to 1984 batch, SS Dhillon and Roshan Lal, of “ganging up” against him and “cooking things to suit their own personal interests”. Only recently, Dhillon who is principal secretary to chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, told news channels about the specific charges against Khemka. Many within the corridors fear that…

IAS officers Dharma Rao, Harbaksh Singh die in separate accidents: A tribute

Highest Motor Road (File photo)

T Dharma Rao, a 1989 batch Madhya Pradesh cadre IAS is no more. Rao, who was the MD of Madhya Pradesh Industrial Development Corporation, died when his Innova car fell into a 300-metre deep gorge at Khardungla of Ladakh region in Jammu and Kashmir. His wife Vidya Rao…