Chief Secy: PMO tells CM to decide

With current chief secretary A.K. Mago’s extended term set to expire on October 31, the caretaker CM had cleared Joseph’s appointment on October 22. However, since Joseph was on Central deputation, a repatriation to his parent cadre (Maharashtra) required the PMO’s approval.

And according to Shinde, who is now the Andhra Pradesh governor, the PMO’s clearance was to be a formality. Yesterday, he had said there was no dispute over the appointment of Joseph as chief secretary. ‘‘My information is that the proposal has been held up in the PMO. I am sure it will be cleared in a day or two,’’ Shinde said.

But the PMO has refused to clear the proposal. As a result, Mago, who retired on October 31, had to hand over charge to additional chief secretary Navin Kumar for the interim period until a new chief secretary is named. Significantly, the new CM is non-committal regarding Joseph’s appointment. ‘‘We are not in a hurry. We will have a new chief secretary in a day or two,’’ Deshmukh said.

A senior bureaucrat said Deshmukh was doing a rethink on the issue and had called for specific details of all the veteran bureaucrats, who are in the zone of consideration for appointment as chief secretary.

Senior bureaucrats in Mantralaya even feel that it was wrong on the part of Shinde to propose a name for the post of chief secretary, particularly since he was heading a caretaker government. ‘‘Even the PMO took the same view and now Joseph is facing an embarrassing situation,’’ an official said.

In the event that Deshmukh rejects the appointment of Joseph, he is likely to propose the names of Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust chief R.B. Budhiraja or Food Corporation of India chief R.M. Premkumar, said sources.