Chief Secretary N Ravishankar, who has been short-listed for the post of Chairman of the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI), may leave for Delhi shortly. This has intensified the race for the coveted post. However, things are still mired in speculation. The Additional Chief Secretary Rakesh Sharma, who is considered to be a front- runner, is locked in a tough fight with two officers — Shatrughan Singh and Rajeev Gupta.
Currently, both these officers are junior to ACS and on deputation in Union Government. However, they are strongly inclined to return to the parent cadre if opportunities come their way. At another remove, in sync with the long-prevailing practice, the Uttarakhand Government is all set to prove benevolent to the outgoing CS. It is most likely that N Ravishankar would be brought back to the State with an adequately lucrative offer after he superranuates.
Interestingly, all the retired CSs have been given fresh appointment in the State service with a scale of Rs90,000 per month. Interestingly, as per the six pay commission, the CS is entitled to get Rs80,000. There are instances galore of junior rank officers being catapulted as chief secretary in preference to the seniors. After such selection happens the senior officers are generally eased out of the secretariat, for as per the service norms, a senior officer cannot be forced to work under their juniors.
For instance, when Principal Secretary Subhash Kumar was appointed the Chief Secretary by then Chief Minister Dr Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, then, the senior most IAS Ajay Joshi was shunted to another realm being made director general of Uttarakhand Administrative Academy. later, Alok Kumar Jain replaced Subhash Kumar as the Chief Secretary following the regime change with Vijay Bahuguna being as the head of the State Government. Consequently, Subhash Kumar was shunted out of the secretariat. later, Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna rehabilitated Subhash Kumar by re-appointing him the Chief Secretary of Uttarakhand. Thereafter, Chief Minister Harish Rawat appointed N Ravishankar, who was then on deputation as a secretary in the Government of India.
He was bestowed with the post in Uttarakhand in 2014. Following this, it was widely supposed that ACS Rakesh Sharma would have his turn. However, given the tangled equations running the top echelons of Government and administration, it is unlikely that he would be favoured with the prized mantle. Harish Rawat as is his wont has kept everybody on the tenterhooks. So the rumour mill is running in full swing with his connivance. There are several instances of the Chief Secretaries being rehabilitated at the instance of the State Government after they superannuate.
For instance, Ex-CS RS Tolia was appointed as SIC, Uttarakhand, SK Das was appointed as the chairman of Uttarakhand Public Service Commission, Indu Kumar Pandey was appointed as financial advisor to the CS, NS Napalchayal was appointed as state information commissioner Uttarakhand, Subhash Kumar was appointed as chairman of Uttarkahand Electricity Regulatory Commission (UERC) and Alok Kumar Jain was appointed as chief commissioner of Right to Service Commission (RTSC). The incumbent Chief Secretary N Ravishankar is all set to become the chairman of NHAI in Delhi at the behest of the State Government.