Harish Gupta. New Delhi
It seems the Prime Minister decided to play safe and appointed senior-most IAS officer of 1974 batch of the UP cadre was made as the next Cabinet Secretary. Seth will replace K M Chandrashekhar who has a record of serving for four years in a row. He will retire on June 13. Earlier, he was toying with the idea of giving a short extension to Chandrashekhar due to certain exigencies. But he had a change of heart before his departure to Ethiopia and decided to bring in Seth. Indeed, Seth’s name had emerged on top after the PM conducted personal interviews with six senior IAS officers last month for the post.
Surprisingly, Seth was never given any important role as secretary of any key department in the government prior to being elevated as Cabinet Secretary. He served as Resident Commissioner for four years in UP Bhawan here despite being the senior-most officer and when Mayawati shunted him out, the Centre was not equally cool. He was given an insignificant posting as Secretary Coordination. But his rise has surprised many as he will service for two years as stipulated even after superannuation. Since that will be an election year, he may continue if found fit.
There is a strong possibility that R K Singh will replace G K Pillai as home secretary soon and Rajan Mathai may be inducted as the next Foreign Secretary in place of Nirupama Rao. It is also certain that Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee will have a final word in choosing his finance secretary when Sushma Nath retires this month end. The Defence Ministry will also have a new secretary when Pradeep Kumar retires on July 31.
Sources say that the Prime Minister is very careful in selecting the new Central Vigilance
Commissioner (CVC) as he has badly burnt his fingers in the P J Thomas case. The new guidelines for the selection of CVC are being finalized and the PM would like to seek the concurrence rather than merely consulting the Leader of the Opposition, Sushma Swaraj. She is a member of the selection committee and had given her written dissent in the P J Thomas case. The new guidelines stipulate that apart from a bureaucrat, any member of the public or judiciary can become a CVC if he fits into the criterion. The PM wants to send a right signal by appointing a new CVC at a time when public attention is focused on war against corruption.
The Prime Minister is also aware that the ensuing Monsoon session is going to be tough one as the role of his own office in the 2G spectrum, ISRO-Devas deal, Commonweath Games will come under attack. The Opposition is gearing up to launch a full offensive against the UPA and set to bring fresh cases of corruption. The BJP has already signaled that it has documents relating to Coal scam while the Left is gunning for cases in the National Highways.
It seems the Prime Minister decided to play safe and appointed senior-most IAS officer of 1974 batch of the UP cadre was made as the next Cabinet Secretary. Seth will replace K M Chandrashekhar who has a record of serving for four years in a row. He will retire on June 13. Earlier, he was toying with the idea of giving a short extension to Chandrashekhar due to certain exigencies. But he had a change of heart before his departure to Ethiopia and decided to bring in Seth. Indeed, Seth’s name had emerged on top after the PM conducted personal interviews with six senior IAS officers last month for the post.
Surprisingly, Seth was never given any important role as secretary of any key department in the government prior to being elevated as Cabinet Secretary. He served as Resident Commissioner for four years in UP Bhawan here despite being the senior-most officer and when Mayawati shunted him out, the Centre was not equally cool. He was given an insignificant posting as Secretary Coordination. But his rise has surprised many as he will service for two years as stipulated even after superannuation. Since that will be an election year, he may continue if found fit.
There is a strong possibility that R K Singh will replace G K Pillai as home secretary soon and Rajan Mathai may be inducted as the next Foreign Secretary in place of Nirupama Rao. It is also certain that Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee will have a final word in choosing his finance secretary when Sushma Nath retires this month end. The Defence Ministry will also have a new secretary when Pradeep Kumar retires on July 31.
Sources say that the Prime Minister is very careful in selecting the new Central Vigilance
Commissioner (CVC) as he has badly burnt his fingers in the P J Thomas case. The new guidelines for the selection of CVC are being finalized and the PM would like to seek the concurrence rather than merely consulting the Leader of the Opposition, Sushma Swaraj. She is a member of the selection committee and had given her written dissent in the P J Thomas case. The new guidelines stipulate that apart from a bureaucrat, any member of the public or judiciary can become a CVC if he fits into the criterion. The PM wants to send a right signal by appointing a new CVC at a time when public attention is focused on war against corruption.
The Prime Minister is also aware that the ensuing Monsoon session is going to be tough one as the role of his own office in the 2G spectrum, ISRO-Devas deal, Commonweath Games will come under attack. The Opposition is gearing up to launch a full offensive against the UPA and set to bring fresh cases of corruption. The BJP has already signaled that it has documents relating to Coal scam while the Left is gunning for cases in the National Highways.
