Even as the ruling government is trying ‘to cancel or at least delay’ the appointment of Ashwani Kumar as the new Chief Secretary, the incumbent, Manoj Parida has requested the Union Ministry of Home Affairs and territorial administration to relieve him on Monday.
“I have asked the MHA and the government to relieve me as Chief Secretary of the Union Territory from Monday,” he said.
Meanwhile, sources in the government said the Chief Minister had expressed concerns about the new appointment of Chief Secretary as the MHA had not followed a statutory requirement of submitting a panel of names to the government before the appointment. “It is a statutory requirement to consult the Chief Minister before appointing a new Chief Secretary. Usually, a panel of three names is submitted to the Chief Minister. In the present case, the CM was not consulted on the appointment,” said a ruling party leader.
CM meets Home Minister
It might be recalled that soon after the MHA order on the new postings came, the Chief Minister had left for New Delhi. He met Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba. The issue figured at the meeting, said a government source.
However, the new Development Commissioner A. Anbarasu will take charge very shortly. “I will join duty soon after I am relieved by the Delhi Government,” he told The Hindu over phone.
Another officer who was included in the Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Mizoram and Union Territories (AGMUT) cadre reshuffle was G. Narendra Kumar, Puducherry Development Commissioner. He was transferred to serve the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD).
There is no reason to prevent Mr. Kumar from taking up his Delhi posting as early as possible, as he had earlier placed a formal request to serve elsewhere after he came under the crossfire of the confrontation between the government and the Raj Nivas in the alleged medical admission scam.
He had placed on record his anguish over being “wrongly named in the FIR for the unassigned role as ex-officio chairman of the Centralised Admission Committee. The registration of the case and subsequent ‘misinformation campaign had dented his record of honesty and excellence in public service for 28 years,’ he had said in a letter to the Chief Secretary.