Transfer of IAS officers springs surprise again

Jaipur: The transfer list of IAS officers has again surprised everyone. Despite all the speculations and discussions, there has been no change in the entire Finance Department. ACS Akhil Arora and his entire team is continuing at the same place. Alok has been brought back to Jaipur to take charge of the Energy department. He is an experienced officer of this sector. In RIICO, the old government’s favorite officers have been removed from posts of MD and ED.

For the first time, the ACS of the Transport department has been given the big responsibility of CMD of Roadways.

The previous government has been criticized the most for its financial mismanagement. The major complaint was that the outgoing government had emptied the treasury by incurring unnecessary expenditure to garner votes and the responsibility of refilling the empty treasury has again been handed over to Akhil Arora.

It is clear that despite several weeks of searching, the option of Akhil Arora has not been found among the available officers to handle the financial management and bring the financial situation back on track.

Along with hard work and ability, Akhil Arora is a result-oriented officer. Holding the charge of finance for a long time in the previous government, Akhil Arora has gained a lot of experience in resource mobilization and financial management.

With this background, the new government has also taken a big decision by handing over the keys of the treasury to Akhil Arora. But this confidence in the new government is also a big challenge for Akhil Arora. His team has also been left under him. In such a situation, it is natural to have high hopes from this energetic officer to refill the empty treasury. He is an outstanding officer and a silent performer who is known for his delivery and result orientation. Apart from finance, the energy sector has also been destroyed in the previous government. To bring the situation under control again, senior ACS level officer Alok has been brought back to Jaipur and given the command of the Energy department. He has already seen the work of Vidyut Bhavan. He has also been in Power Ministry in Delhi. His image is that of a hard-core taskmaster and result-oriented officer.

Dinesh Kumar has been elevated after a long gap. He has got the responsibility of a big and important department like Revenue. Aparna Arora’s change was long due. After the change, she has again been assigned an equally big department of Forest. A strong team has been formed in RIICO by appointing a talented and clean image MD like Sushma Arora along with Chairman Ajitabh Sharma. It can be expected that RIICO, which had derailed during the previous government, will now come back on track.

Justice is not being done to Naveen Mahajan even in the new government. Removing him from OTS and putting him in Ware Housing Board embodies the idiom of ‘Fell from the sky, got stuck in a date palm’. The change of Anshdeep in Excise in place of Om Kasera is beyond comprehension. Similarly, reason for removing Inderjeet Singh from IT is being sought. It was certain that Nathmal Didel would be removed from Roadways but Manisha Arora not being removed as Transport Commissioner is a matter of surprise. The outgoing government had appointed Manisha to this post a day before implementation of code of conduct.

It is said that Kumar Pal Gautam was removed from responsible posts of Excise Commissioner within 11 months and Housing Board Commissioner within 5 months due to complaints. Now he has been pushed to the margins. Shikhar Agrawal has been further strengthened by giving the additional charge of Chairman of Pollution Control Board and Civil Aviation while being in the CMO.

Similarly, the status of CMO’s other officer Alok Gupta has been enhanced by handing over the command of RREC and DPR. The responsibility of DPR is challenging. Hemant Gera’s case has become very unique.

Despite his long innings, instead of removing him from DoP, he has been given addl responsibility of OTS. This is being considered an injustice to Gera. Now it is certain that Rajeshwar Singh will retire from Ajmer after 5 months in July. It is believed that any reshuffle of IAS officers before Lok Sabha polls has now been stopped.