FinMin’s corner office filled, new faces to follow

With finance minister P Chidambaram again at the helm a major reshuffle is expected across the departments of the ministry within days. While Arvind Mayaram has already been appointed in the economic affairs department as R Gopalan's successor, indications are that former International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief economist Raghuram G Rajan may take over as chief economic adviser (CEA).

With both the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) and Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) chairman retiring today, Poonam Kishore Saxena, currently member legislation and computerisation, has been given the additional charge of the CBDT, and Praveen Mahajan, member personnel and vigilance, has been appointed as the acting chairperson of the CBEC till further orders.

According to official sources while former Reserve Bank of India governor YV Reddy's name has been proposed as the chairman of the 14th Finance Commission, others in the fray include his predecessor Bimal Jalan. A political person eased out in the Cabinet reshuffle could also be the chairperson. The commission has the mandate to decide on the distribution of tax proceeds between the Centre and states, with possibilities of ICRIER chief Parthasarathy Shome, Gopalan, and Sushma Nath as members.

Ajay Chhibber, who was also being considered for the post of chief economic advisor, is expected to be appointed as the director general of independent evaluation office (IEO). The IEO head's post is equivalent to that of a minister of state in the government, while CEA is a secretary rank position.

The setting up of the IEO was approved cabinet in November 2010 after former president Pratibha Patil's announcement in 2009. Funded by the Planning Commission, the objective of the IEO is to provide an impartial and objective assessment of various public programmes and improve the effectiveness of public interventions.

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