The Delhi Government’s Principal Secretary (Finance) and a 1986 batch IAS officer Sanjeev Nandan Sahai has been appointed as Additional Secretary, Department of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce and Industry at the Centre. Sahai would replace Arvind Mehra, a 1984 batch IAS officer of Himachal Pradesh on completion of his tenure on September 28. The appointment of Sahai was approved by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) on Saturday. He is expected to join his new posting by October 3.
The Delhi Government is already short of senior and competent IAS officers to handle important departments like Finance and Home. Now the question is being raised in the bureaucratic circles as to who would replace Sahai in the Finance department.
Sahai, who is considered close to Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia in the AAP Government, had been transferred to Goa in July this year but the order was kept in abeyance on the ground that he was senior to the present chief secretary of Goa, RK Srivastava, till September 30.
Known for expediting projects and taking strong decisions on policy matters, Sahai was the most sought after officer in the AAP Government. An IIM alumni, he was on Central deputation at Delhi Integrated Multi-Modal Transit System ltd for a period of five years before joining the city administration. He had vociferously supported the concept of Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), which was recently scrapped by the AAP Government.
Earlier this year, differences between Jain and Sahai erupted after the officer refused to suspend two of his special secretaries, saying that the Minister had no power to act against his subordinates. "When a civil servant takes a decision, he does not do it as a delegate to his Minister. He does it on behalf of the Government. It is always open to a Minister to call for any file in his Ministry and pass orders. The order of 8th January 2016 was erroneous because it attempted to denude the secretary of his statutory functions," Sahai had said in a four– page note to Jain.