With key posts vacant,‘crisis’ looms over UT

Besides this,a couple of top positions in the Chandigarh Housing Board (CHB) too are lying vacant for months. Also,Special Secretary (Finance) Ajoy Sharma is proceeding on a six-month ex-India leave from next month. Present Additional Deputy Commissioner M L Sharma is also going to be repatriated to his parent Punjab cadre in the coming month,creating more vacancies in the UT Administration.

On the other hand,the panels of officers who are to be sent on deputation from the state of Haryana for the posts of UT Home Secretary and Superintendent of Police (Traffic),which were received by the Chandigarh Administration weeks ago,are still awaiting finalisation. Sources disclosed that both the panels were received last month but the UT Administration is yet to take a final call on selecting the officers for the post of Home Secretary and SP (Traffic. While the present Home Secretary will relinquish charge on September 24,SSP (Traffic) Hardeep Doon will leave his charge on July 31.

In the wake of such ‘laxity’ on the part of the Chandigarh Administration in appointing officers to key posts,the present lot of officers – mainly Punjab Civil Services (PCS) and Haryana Civil Services (HCS) officers – are being ‘burdened’ by giving them additional charges. There are many PCS and HCS officers who have been allotted multiple charges.

In a recent case of ‘overburdening with multiple charges’,Additional Estate Officer Rahul Gupta,who is handling the charge as an addition to his other duties,was caught taking official files to Lake Club while people were left waiting for him at the UT Estate Office. UT Deputy Commissioner Brijendra Singh also issued him an advisory note,asking him to spend more time in his office at the UT Estate Office and not take files to the Lake Club on a regular basis.