Punjab,Haryana govts yet to send panels for posts of 2 new secretaries

A proposal was mooted with the MHA for creation of two new posts of secretaries. A year and a half ago,approval for the same was received.

It had been proposed that IAS officers of the AGMUT cadre be appointed,which led to ruckus with the two state governments approaching the MHA stating that the traditional 60:40 ratio be maintained in appointments. The issue was also raised with former Union Home Minister P Chidambaram. Following this,a decision was taken that for the two posts,a panel would be invited from both Punjab and Haryana.

However,the panels sent by the state governments were not found suitable. The bureaucrats whose names were in the panel were reluctant to join. The Administration then sent another communication to the state governments to send a panel of officers,which is yet to be received.

An official of the Administration said that while communication was sent,panels were yet to be received. It was further added that the panels received earlier had problems.

Meanwhile,for the post of UT Finance Secretary the Administration has recommended Anurag Aggarwal,a 1990 batch IAS officer. Final approval from the MHA is awaited.

Meanwhile,the Punjab government had sent a panel of three names including to the Administration. Apart from Aggarwal,the others included 1992 batch officer Sarvjit Singh and 1995 batch officer Hussan Lal.