Delhi: In major bureaucratic reshuffle, 200 officials transferred

Last month, Delhi Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar had asked all the department heads to submit a list of officers and employees posted in the department for more than five years so that they could be transferred to other departments.

So far, the services department, which comes under the Lieutenant Governor (LG) of Delhi, has transferred a total of 124 Grade III officers posted in different Delhi government departments, including a few in the Chief Minister’s Office and the power and health and family welfare minister’s office. About 40 Grade I, II, III and IV subordinate officers have also been transferred this week.

According to officials, the services department has asked these officials to immediately join the new posting without waiting for any formal relieving order from the department that they are currently posted in. “Non-compliance of this order will be viewed seriously and disciplinary action as deemed fit will be initiated without any further reference,” read the transfer order issued by the services department on July 12.

This is the second mass transfer in the Delhi government after LG Vinay Kumar Saxena took charge. About 40 senior bureaucrats, IAS and DANICS cadre officials were transferred in a major reshuffle in May.

Among the seven DANICS officials currently transferred are Sushil Singh, who has been appointed as special CEO of disaster management with additional charge of special commissioner (food and supplies) and Kuldeep Singh, who has been transferred as deputy secretary to the health and family welfare department. Singh was the special commissioner (food and supplies).

Grade-I officers of Delhi Administrative Subordinate Services (DASS) cadre were also transferred to other departments.

IAS AGMUT (Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Mizoram and Union Territories) 2003 cadre officer Neeraj Semwal, who is currently managing director of Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC), has been given additional charge as special commissioner (transport), and AGMUT cadre 2009 batch IAS officer Krishna Mohan Uppu has been posted as commissioner of excise department.

According to sources, several officials were putting in requests asking that they not be transferred, saying that they were posted in important or sensitive projects. “Such requests and recommendations are a usual tactic to stop the transfer. Some of the bureaucrats prefer to work with officials as per their choice but more transfers are expected. Several posts are lying vacant in different departments,” said a senior official.