A fierce race has begun for some of the top bureaucratic jobs in the country. The reason behind this is the fact that over the next two months, the posts of Defence Secretary, Home Secretary, Cabinet Secretary and CAG will fall vacant.
However, sources said that Cabinet Secretary Ajit Kumar Seth is all set to get a one-year extension, as the UPA Government is keen on continuity in administration in the run up to the lok Sabha elections next year. Seth is set to retire in June.
Sources said that the Government is also considering giving a one year extension to Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai, who will retire in June. However, the Indian Ambassador in Germany, Sujata Singh, is also in the race for the post of Foreign Secretary.
CAG Vinod Rai, who is a thorn in the side of the UPA Government, retires in May. The front-runners for the
coveted post of CAG are Revenue Secretary Sumit Bose and Defence Secretary Shashi Kant Sharma. Both officers belong to the 1976 batch. Bose is from Madhya Pradesh
cadre and Sharma belongs to the Bihar cadre.
Petroleum Secretary Vivek Rae’s name was also considered for the post of the CAG. Rae is a 1978 batch officer of Union Territory cadre.
Another contender for the CAG’s job was Telecom Secretary R Chandrasekhar. However, after the left parties came out openly against his appointment as CAG, the chances of Chandrasekhar, who retired in March, are now considered bleak.
The DoPT Secretary PK Misra is also believed to be eyeing this constitutionally protected post. In the corridors of power, Misra’s name is also doing the rounds for the post of Home Secretary, which will fall vacant in June after the retirement of RK Singh. A 1976 batch officer,
Misra belongs to the Uttar Pradesh cadre.
For the post of Home Secretary, Steel Secretary DRS Chaudhary is considered to be the front-runner due to his vast experience in the Home Ministry in various capacities.
The Secretary, Defence (Production) RK Mathur is expected to become the new Defence Secretary after Shashi Kant Sharma retires in June. A Manipur-Tripura cadre officer, Mathur also belongs to the 1976 batch.
Meanwhile, with the Government appointing the Director-General of the National Investigation Agency SC Sinha as member of the National Human Rights Commission, the premier counter-terror investigation agency has become headless in the absence of a full-fledged director. A stopgap arrangement has been made by making Additional Director NR Wasan the acting D-G of NIA.
Agency sources said the Government should have appointed a full-time D-G before moving Sinha to NHRC, as the day to day functioning of the agency is affected and demoralisation sets in within the ranks.