With lok Sabha Secretary General TK Viswanathan’s tenure coming to end next month, the race for the top post — equivalent to the rank of a Cabinet Secretary — has begun in the corridors of power. However, the possibility of another extension to the incumbent Viswanathan remains high.
Sources said Speaker Meira Kumar wants “continuity” till the end of the term of this lok Sabha and there was no need for a consensus in the Collegium. The Speaker can take a decision on the extension and convention is to inform the members of Collegium.
The selection to the post of lok Sabha’s Secretary General had become controversial last year after leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj expressed her displeasure over the extension of service to Viswanathan. She had suggested that the Collegium should consider officials of Parliament rather than bringing outsiders for the top post.
As of now, the Collegium for selecting the Secretary General consists of Speaker, leader of the House Sushilkumar Shinde and Sushma Swaraj. Senior IAS officials as well as retired babus are eyeing the coveted post even as lok Sabha officials are pitching in for the recruitment of an insider.
Outsiders have been selected for the top post of lok Sabha twice. Apart from Viswanathan, who was a former law Secretary, former I&B Secretary S Gopalan was the other outsider selected for the post of Secretary General.
last year, Swaraj had crticised the Speaker for granting extension to Viswanathan and spoiling the career prospect of officials of Parliament. This incident was said to have sparked off a tussle between the Speaker and the leader of Opposition, which led to differences of opinion on other issues as well.
According to lok Sabha officials, the current Secretary S Bal Shekhar is the senior most candidate for the post of Secretary General. If selected, he would have a two-year service period from September.
Some argue that the Collegium’s selection process is applicable to a new candidate only and extension of services of the present incumbent can be decided by Speaker. In extension of services, Speaker needs to inform other Collegium members. However, the other argument says the Collegium should meet for all kinds of selection process. With a decision needed to be taken by mid-August, sources did not rule the chances of the issue making headlines yet again.