UPA I to UPA II: PM ensures continuity in South Block

PMO Secretary M N Prasad (1972,Bihar) is due to retire at the end of June. But his name is being considered for Member,UPSC on a fixed five-year tenure in place of former Civil Aviation Secretary K Roy Paul or for a year’s extension on contract. Prasad was even being considered for a fixed tenure of two years as Defence Secretary but present incumbent Vijay Singh retires on July 31,a month after Prasad.

Since the appointments of two special envoys,Shyam Saran and Satinder Kumar Lambah,were till further orders,there is no change. They will continue to advise the PM on Climate Change and policy on Pakistan respectively.

Incidentally,Pulok Chaterji,who was Secretary in the PMO and moved to World Bank as Executive Director before the Lok Sabha elections,met Manmohan Singh last week,sparking speculation that the 1974 batch UP cadre officer was returning to his old post in the PMO. Dr Sanjaya Baru,Prime Minister’s media advisor who moved to Singapore before the elections on personal grounds,also met Singh around the same time.

Though the PM is said to have indicated that he is not too keen to take back officers who left before the elections,Baru is expected to join the PMO as head of programme implementation and monitoring cell as well as Singh’s speech writer.

The PM’s present media advisor Deepak Sandhu,a retired 1971 batch IIS officer,is slated to get a three-year contract even as the name of a senior Delhi-based journalist is being floated for the job.

After the election results,Cabinet Secretary K M Chandrasekhar was granted extension for one more year till June 14,2010 though this move can lead to a tricky situation. This is because next year,the government will have to choose between present Urban Development Secretary M Ramachandran and Secretary (Tourism) Sujit Banerjee,both 1972 batch officers retiring on June 30 and July 31,2010 respectively.

The PM will find it difficult to appoint anyone from the 1973 batch,the next batch,as it would make the next Cabinet Secretary junior to the new Home Secretary Gopal Pillai who is from the 1972 batch. The other option before the government is to go for a Cabinet Secretary from 1973 batch and upgrade Pillai to Principal Secretary (Home) with equivalent status.