The year 2012 promises a prominent change of guard in Haryana government with Chief Secretary Urvashi Gulati retiring on March 31. While there are still three months for Gulati to go,the Haryana Secretariat is rife with speculations as to who will be the next probable incumbent of the hot seat,mainly because the change in the top slot is happening after over two years. Gulati is the last of the 1975-batch IAS officers in the state and took over as the chief secretary on October 30,2009. The next senior most bureaucrat in the state is Raminder Singh Gujral a 1976-batch officer who is currently posted as Secretary,Department of Revenue in Union Ministry of Finance. He is due to retire in November 2013 but senior bureaucrats point out that there is very little likelihood of his leaving central post for the states top post. The next in the gradation list is another 1976 batch officer Anita Chaudhry,who is to retire in September 2012. She is also currently posted as secretary in the Department of Land Resources in the Union Ministry of Rural Development. The possibility of her returning to the state to stake her claim to the post of the chief secretary is also dim as she will be able to retain the post for barely five months. Raj Kumar,the current financial commissioner (Revenue) in Haryana is a 1977-batch IAS officer and the next seniormost bureaucrat in the state. He is likely to replace Gulati when she retires but will be to serve the state only till August,2012 when he too retires. Krishan Mohan,also a 1977-batch officer,is the next in line and is currently posted as the financial commissioner and principal secretary in the Department of Cooperation. However,he is not likely to be considered for the post of the chief secretary. Mohan is facing serious charges of corruption in a case registered by the CBI in October 2010. The charges relate to his stint as the home secretary of Chandigarh. Mohan has a strong chance to become the chief secretary only if before August next year,he can get a clean chit from the CBI,claimed senior bureaucrats in the state. He is a close confidante of the Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda but was removed as the home secretary when he was booked in the case. Hooda can choose to overlook the CBIs charges and make him the CS. A strong indicator to this end will be if the chief minister makes Krishan Mohan the financial commissioner (Revenue) replacing Raj Kumar, said a senior bureaucrat. The next officer in the seniority list is P K Chaudhy,also a 1977 batch officer currently posted in the Centre. Chaudhry is enjoying a good posting in New Delhi and he is not likely to come back even though he retires in June 2013, said a source. Manik Sonawane,the next in the gradation list,would have retired by the time the chief secretarys post gets vacant again in August 2012.
