Gehlot continues experiments with staff postings

Gehlot continues experiments with staff postings
PRADEEP KAUSHAL

JAIPUR, JAN 15: Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot got himself another secretary last night, demonstrating that his experimentation with regard to the composition of his office still continued. The second secretary, Jaipur Collector Shrimat Pandey, was among the 21 IAS officers shifted by Gehlot. C.M. Mathews is the other secretary to the Chief Minister.

Gehlot discontinued the normal practice of having one principal secretary after becoming Chief Minister on December 1, 1998. He appointed two secretaries, Lalit Panwar and Mathews. Needless to say, the move sparked off competition between the two for a larger role.

On his part, Gehlot tried to ensure peace by dividing departments between them, but this didn't work either. Within a year, Gehlot turned to a senior officer, Adarsh Kishore Saxena, who had earlier served as the principal secretary to the Chief Minister during the regime of Shiv Charan Mathur, and inducted him as his own Principal Secretary.

Once in the new post, Saxena, given his seniority and drive, overshadowed both Mathews and Panwar. Soon, was transferred out as the Tourism Secretary. The existing arrangement continued for a year -- Saxena called the shots and Mathews was content playing the second fiddle. However, Saxena moved to the Centre some time ago as Additional Secretary in the Finance Ministry, leaving Mathews on his own. But now, he will have Pandey for company and since there is no talk of anyone replacing Saxena, observers are wondering whether another turf war will start.

The transfers of Collectors of Tonk, Nagaur and Alwar districts have also been overshadowed by political developments. Tonk had witnessed communal riots in which 14 people had died in Tordi Sagar, Malpura and Tonk itself during H.K. Damor's tenure as District Collector.

Gehlot had earlier ignored persistent requests of Social Welfare Minister Zakia, who represents the Tonk Assembly constituency, to get Damor transferred. Now, Damor has been posted as Additional Commissioner of Food and Supplies and N.P. Gangwar has been appointed in his place.

Nagaur Collector A.K. Hemkar, who had come under a cloud after people protesting against power shortage disrupted Gehlot's public meeting, and pelted stones at him, Energy Minister Chandra Bhan and the police in his district last week, has also been transferred. It is another matter that Hemkar, who is epileptic and suffered a fit during the pelting, has been given the important post of Director of Social Welfare here. In Agra, he has been succeeded by Niranjan Arya.

The third important development was the heckling of Rural Development Minister C.P. Joshi -- considered to be Gehlot's blue-eyed boy -- at a convention of Congress members of panchayati raj and municipal bodies here on December 16 in the presence of party president Sonia Gandhi.

Joshi, who controls a sizeable chunk of government employees, has alienated a large number of party leaders with his curt style of functioning. Those who thought that Gehlot might distance himself from Joshi, have been disappointed, with the latter's close relative B.N. Sharma, the Collector of Alwar, being appointed to the highly sought-after post of the Collector of Jaipur.

Sharma has been replaced by Tanmoy Kumar at Alwar while K.K. Sabikhi has been posted as Collector of Bikaner and Subodh Agrawal the Collector of Bharatpur. Another politically important posting is that of Jagdish Chandra as managing director of the Rajasthan State Road Transport Corporation. Chandra, who is known for his proximity to Congress Working Committee member Natwar Singh, had been sidelined after the relations between Singh and Gehlot cooled off. His new posting indicates an improvement in Gehlot's relations with the senior party leader.

O.P. Bihari, awaiting posting orders, has been transferred as the chairman of the RAS Appellant Authority vice-chief I.C. Shrivastav, who has been transferred as the chairman and Managing Director of the Rajasthan Miners and Minerals Corporation.

Rukmini Haldia, also awaiting posting orders, has been posted as the Mines Secretary. Salauddin Ahmed has been made the chairman of the RSRTC. Rajeev Sharma has been posted as the Food and Supplies Secretary, Manohar Lal the member of the Sales Tax Board, Giriraj Singh as the Special Secretary, Relief, and Deepak Upreti is Special Secretary, Finance. R.N. Arvind has been posted as the administrator of the Agricultural Marketing Board, S.R. Pratihar as the Director of Woman and Child Department and Alok Gupta as a deputy secretary in the Personnel department.