Following the failure of civil and police administration to prevent violence in the wake of conviction of dera sect chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim last month in the State, Haryana Government on Tuesday shunted out Ram Niwas, Additional Chief Secretary (Home).
In a major administrative reshuffle, senior IAS officer Ram Niwas has been relieved of the charge and replaced by another senior IAS Shyam Sunder Prasad.
SS Prasad, who was earlier Additional Chief Secretary (ACS), Food and Supplies have been posted as ACS, Home, Jails, Criminal investigation and Administration of Justice Department while Ram Niwas goes as ACS, Food, Supplies and Consumer Affairs Department.
After delivering the hat-trick of failure on law and order front, the Haryana Government has now gone into damage control mode and issued transfer orders of 14 IAS and 2 HCS.
The transfers of senior IAS officers were expected as the State Government was under fire from various quarters for administrative failure to prevent violent on August 25.
Earlier, the entire blame for violence in Panchkula was put on IPS Ashok Kumar, DCP Panchkula, who was suspended for his failure in implementing the prohibitory orders in Panchkula.
A large-scale violence had broken out in Panchkula after the Dera Sacha Sauda sect chief Ram Rahim Singh conviction in rape cases, leaving 35 people dead. Six others died in incidents of violence in Sirsa. A special CBI court in Panchkula had sentenced the Dera chief to 20-year imprisonment in rape case.
Meanwhile, the State Government has transferred IAS Vijay Vardhan as ACS, Tourism while VS Kundu is posted as ACS, Science & Technology and VS, SUPVA, Rohtak, in addition.
Jyoti Arora awaiting posting orders has been posted as Principal Secretary Higher Education Department vice Mahavir Singh who goes as Principal Secretary, labour Department.
Vivek Joshi Member Secretary, 5th State Finance Commission and Commissioner, Ambala Division has been given the additional charge of Chief Administrator, Trade Fair Authority of Haryana while Shekhar Vidyarthi has been given the additional charge of Director and Special Secretary, Welfare of Scheduled Castes and Backward Classes Department.
Ashok Kumar Meena is posted as Director and Special Secretary, Development and Panchayats and Director, Rural Development while Garima Mittal, Director, Elementary Education and Rajnarayan Kaushik, Deputy Commissioner, Mahendragarh at Narnaul will swap their places of posting.
Amna Tasneem is posted as ADC-cum-CEO, DRDA, Nuh and Parth Gupta goes as Additional Commissioner, Municipal Corporation, Faridabad and CEO, Faridabad Smart City limited, Faridabad.
Among HCS officers, Jitender Kumar-II, HCS awaiting posting orders has been posted as sub divisional officer (civil) Kosli while Naresh Kumar is posted as ADC-cum-CEO, DRDA, Jhajjar and Secretary, RTA, Jhajjar.