‘Additional’ work to officials to better Raj’s administrative ‘health’!

Jaipur: The DoP’s order dated January 25 regarding transfer-posting has surprised the administrative experts. It is perhaps the first of its kind order which has been issued solely for additional charges wherein one dozen IAS officers have been given additional charges. Prior to this, through the January 5 transfer list and January 10 IAS list, 3 IAS officers and 16 IAS officers respectively have been given additional charges. Now, a total of 29 IAS officers have been given additional charges in the new government and this is a first-of-its-kind development in the state’s administrative history.

No one knows why no officer wants to go to the newly formed Salumber district as its Collector. On January 5, DoP appointed Arun Garg and then on January 10 Mukul Sharma was appointed as Salumber Collector but both the promotee IAS officers declined going to Salumber. Now, in the third attempt, 2016 batch IAS officer Jasmeet Singh Sandhu has been sent there.

The post of Director Mines has become a joke. The previous government changed 7 Directors. Then the new government shunted out Tarachand Meena on January 5 and since then the post has been lying vacant for the past three weeks. Now the new government has also not given any importance to this post and given additional charge of this position to Devasthan Commissioner Pragya Kewalramani. Notably, the female IAS officer has already been given the additional charge of the TAD Commissioner through the January 5 transfer order. Now Pragya is heading three departments, Devasthan, TAD and Mines, as its HoD.

T Ravikanth already has the full-time responsibility of Principal Secretary, CMO, but despite this, he has been given the additional responsibility of Secretary LSG, Chairman Housing Board and Chairman JCTL. As a result of this, Ravikanth is perplexed.

A major tussle had ensued between several officials in the previous government for the position of Chairman, RAJCOMP. At times department (IT) Secretary and at times the Director used all the ‘muscle’ they could to snatch away the chair. Now the new government has given the additional charge of Chairman to Secretary Arti Dogra, although current Commissioner Inderjeet Singh also had staked claim to the post.

Although Laxman Kudi is primarily the Commissioner of a small department like Horticulture, but he has been given important responsibilities as additional charge which include Director, Agriculture Marketing and Administrator, Agriculture Marketing Board which has surprised everyone.

Ajitabh Sharma has been given yet another jump as he has been given additional responsibility for two important posts, Chairman RAJSICO and Commissioner Rajasthan Foundation. With these two new responsibilities, Sharma has become the ‘whole and sole’ in Udhyog Bhawan.