Centre, UT at loggerheads over CITCO chief transfer

A tug of war has begun, between the UT Administration and the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), over the repatriation of Punjab cadre IAS officer, D K Tiwari, presently the MD of the Chandigarh Industrial and Tourism and Development Corporation (CITCO).

While the MHA has directed the UT Administration to send Tiwari back to his parent cadre as he has already served beyond his tenure with UT, the administration has put its foot down and has refused to relieve the officer unless there is a replacement. Tiwari is also the secretary of the Science and Technology and Forests departments in Punjab.

The UT Administration had earlier refused to pick Tiwari's replacement from a panel of three officers, sent by the Punjab government. The administration has instead sought another panel from the Punjab government. This, despite the Ministry of Home Affairs directing UT to relieve the Punjab cadre officer by December-end. Despite repeated attempts, the UT Advisor could not be contacted for his comments.

In fact, this was the second time that a panel, for Tiwari's replacement, was scrapped due to reasons best known to UT officials. All this while UT Administrator Shivraj V Patil has, on many occasions, clarified that no officer should be allowed to serve beyond his actual tenure.

The three-year term of the CITCO chief ended in January 2012. The administration, after failing to get his replacement from the Centre, sought an extension to his tenure, which was granted.

In August 2011, six months before the expiry of Tiwari's term, the Punjab government had sent a panel of three officers to the UT Administration, for the post. It included the names of A K Sinha, S K Sharma and M R Aggarwal. Punjab, however, cancelled the panel and sent fresh names for the post. Following this, the Administration refused to accept the new panel and urged Punjab to reconsider its decision saying that the selection process had been in its final stages.

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