According to the transfer list issued by the state government on Tuesday night, powerful babus of the previous regime were sidelined, especially Tanmay Kumar, who was the principal secretary to Vasundhara Raje. Kumar was shunted out to Bikaner as irrigation commissioner
New Delhi: Just 36 hours after taking oath as Rajasthan chief minister, senior Congress leader Ashok Gehlot has started overhauling the entire bureaucracy, especially in the state capital Jaipur.
Over three dozen IAS officers in the state were reshuffled. Gehlot appointed Kuldeep Ranka as his principal secretary while Ajitabh Sharma was elevated as secretary.
But, even among Gehlot’s close aides, 1988 batch IAS Subodh Kumar Agrawal has emerged as the most powerful. He was appointed additional chief secretary of industries and also put in-charge of the ambitious Jaipur-Mumbai Industrial Corridor.
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As expected, the reshuffle was on the cards ever since the new regime took reigns of the administration. Deputy chief minister (DCM) Sachin Pilot was taken into confidence as the transfers were rolled out.
According to the transfer list issued by the state government on Tuesday night, powerful babus of the previous regime were sidelined, especially Tanmay Kumar, who was the principal secretary to Vasundhara Raje. Kumar was shunted out to Bikaner as irrigation commissioner.
Newly-elected chief minister Gehlot had for long criticised Kumar for his functioning as a BJP activist. Gehlot had targeted Kumar even during election campaigning and had warned him of consequences. So his dumping comes as expected.
Meanwhile, the chief minister has appointed his trusted babus in key departments such as health, food, home and education. The state government wants to implement the pre-poll manifesto as soon as possible. As general elections could be announced in the next three months, the Gehlot regime wants to waive farmer loans, the cornerstone of the Congress manifesto.
The officers are his former confidantes from his earlier stint as the chief minister. They had been sidelined in the Raje regime. Gehlot has rewarded their loyalty.
However, three IAS officers – ACS finance Mukesh Kumar Sharma, Shikhar Agrawal, principal secretary water resource, and Praveen Gupta secretary finance, have been shifted to the Ajmer revenue board from the secretariat in Jaipur. Aarti Dogra, the collector of Ajmer, has been elevated to the coveted position of joint secretary in the chief minister’s office.
According to the list, Rajeev Swarup has been made ACS home and Niranjan Kumar Arya is the new principle secretary finance. Sudarshan Sethi has been appointed as ACS forest and environment while Rohit Singh is the new principal secretary health. Dr Samit Sharma has been appointed as the director NRHM.
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