Centre curtails Naidu's PS tenure, few other babus sent back

New Delhi, Feb 14: Private Secretary to Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation Minister M Venkaiah Naidu is among the bureaucrats whose tenure has been curtailed by the Centre.

The Appointments Committee of Cabinet (ACC) has approved cutting short the tenure of M K Tripathi, a 2000 batch Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer of Karnataka cadre, as PS to Naidu and placed him on compulsory wait, an order issued by Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) said.

The order did not mention any reason for curtailing Tripathi's tenure. He will continue to draw his pay and allowances in the Ministry of HUPA till he gets a new posting as Director in some other Ministry or department at the Centre under Central Staffing Scheme, it said.

The ACC chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also cut short the tenure of Naidu's another PS Saurabh Gaur, in the Parliamentary Affairs Ministry and appointed him in place of Tripathi.

Naidu also holds the Parliamentary Affairs portfolio. The ACC has approved the proposal of Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs for curtailment of tenure of Gaur as PS to the Parliamentary Affairs Minister and appointed him as PS to the Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation Minister for the balance period of his five-year tenure till March 23, 2020, it said.

The premature repatriation of PS to Law Minister D V Sadananda Gowda has also been approved by the ACC. V Ponnuraj, a 2000 batch IAS officer of Karnataka cadre, is working as PS to Gowda.

The ACC has approved the proposal of Department of Legal Affairs for premature repatriation of V Ponnuraj "to avail the benefit of promotion in his parent cadre", the order said.

Besides him, there are a few other officers whose central deputation has been suspended and they have been sent back to their parent cadres.

The competent authority has approved the premature repatriation of S K Bahri, a 1981 batch officer of Indian Audit and Accounts Service, to his parent cadre, the DoPT said. Bahri was working as Additional Secretary and Financial Adviser in the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion.

Besides, the premature repatriation of IAS officer Sanjiv Kumar has also been approved by the government. Kumar,a 1986 batch IAS officer of Karnataka cadre, was working as Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. He has been sent back to avail the benefit of promotion in his cadre state Karnataka, it said.

The competent authority has approved premature repatriation of IFoS officer M Rajkumar on "personal grounds". Rajkumar, who was working as Director in Coal Ministry, is an officer of the Union Territories cadre, the order said.

The rush of senior bureaucrats from the Centre to states continues ever since the new government took over in May 2014. At least 65 IAS and IPS officers have either availed the option of returning to their parent cadre or have been given premature repatriation, officials said.

PTI