Haryana: New Khattar govt transfers 26 senior bureaucrats

Chandigarh: In its first major administrative reshuffle, the new BJP government in Haryana led by Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar has transferred 26 senior bureaucrats.

Those transferred include 14 bureaucrats of additional chief secretary rank and 14 principal secretaries, a spokesman said on Thursday. This is the first major transfer of bureaucrats ordered by the Khattar government over 15 days after it assumed office 26 October.

Additional Chief Secretary (ACS) Rajan Kumar Gupta, who headed the finance department, has been moved to the power and renewable energy department. ACS Health Navraj Sandhu has been moved to the development and panchayats department. ACS Home Roshan Lal will now head excise and taxation and mines department, while ACS Hardeep Kumar will now head the public works department.

S.S. Dhillon and K.K. Khandelwal, who were both principal secretaries to previous chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda in the Congress-led government, have been posted out. Dhillon will now be ACS tourism and archaeology, while Khandelwal will be ACS sports. Ram Niwas will be the new ACS Health.

P. Raghuvendra Rao will now head the important town and country planning, urban estates and housing departments as ACS. T.C. Gupta, who held this portfolio during the Hooda regime, has been shifted as principal secretary-school education against a vacant post.

P.K. Mahapatra will be the new ACS home. P.K. Das will be the new principal secretary-finance. Devender Singh will be the new principal secretary-industries.

Khattar had earlier appointed bureaucrat Sanjeev Kaushal as his principal secretary. Two additional principal secretaries, Sumita Mishra and Rakesh Gupta, were also appointed in the Chief Minister’s Office.

IANS