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Journalism of Courage
In a major bureaucratic reshuffle on Wednesday, the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) appointed Economic Affairs Secretary Subhash Chandra Garg as the new Power Secretary, while Atanu Chakraborty, currently Secretary in the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM), has been appointed as Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, in place of Garg.
The government appointed existing Power Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla as Officer on Special Duty in Ministry of Home Affairs with immediate effect. Anil Kumar Khachi, a 1986 batch Himachal Pradesh cadre officer, has been appointed as Secretary, DIPAM.
Garg, a Rajasthan cadre officer of 1983 batch, has been the key officer in managing the fiscal consolidation roadmap of the Central government and was designated as the Finance Secretary. He also pushed the need for reviewing the Economic Capital Framework of the Reserve Bank of India, with the finance ministry arguing that the RBI share excess capital with the government. This issue generated considerable debate and created frictions in relations between the Finance Ministry and RBI last year, which many saw as the key reason behind resignation of former RBI Governor Urjit Patel.
Chakraborty, a Gujarat cadre officer of 1985 batch, moves to the Finance Ministry amid slackening economic growth and a new proposal by the government to raise around $10 billion through issuance of sovereign bonds in the overseas markets. With Garg moving out, Revenue Secretary Ajay Bhushan Pandey and Department of Financial Services Secretary Rajiv Kumar — both officers of 1984 batch — are the senior most in the Finance Ministry. In the past, the government has appointed the senior most Finance Ministry official as the Finance Secretary.
Appointment of Khachi, presently serving in the cadre, as Secretary DIPAM comes at a crucial juncture as the government is banking heavily on disinvestment and asset sales to boost its fiscal health. The Union Budget 2019 has set a high target of Rs 1.05 lakh crore from disinvestment for the current fiscal year, compared with Rs 90,000 crore in the Interim Budget.
Apart from residual stake sales, buybacks and strategic sales, land monetisation is a key component of the Centre’s push to raise resources. Chakraborty has been instrumental in pushing the disinvestment programme and using exchange traded fund (ETF) route as a key means of raising resources.
Apart from these key Finance Ministry bureaucrats, Girish Chandra Murmu, a Gujarat cadre officer of 1985 batch, is currently serving as Secretary, Department of Expenditure.
