Hardly 45 days are left for enforcement of code of conduct in Rajasthan. Gehlot government is grappling with many unfinished work and agenda. Among top of the agenda is filling the posts of commissions and boards the state government has announced in a jiffy.
Not only bureaucrats several self-acclaimed caste leaders and social workers are waiting for announcement of the office-bears of the boards. There are more than 100 boards, constitutional bodies and authorities, which are meant for political postings only.
Out of these around 15 boards – most of them caste based – have been announced in this year only for political gain.
The chief minister Ashok Gehlot will have to sprint hard to appoint officer bears and members of these boards and commissions to woo votes linked with such boards.
Rajasthan Public Service Commission
This is one of the most sought-after commission for retired bureaucrats or for that matter even serving bureaucrats eye this commission for being member or chairman.
At present three posts of members are vacant in this commission excluding member Babulal Katara who is in jail in the paper leak case, which has dented the reputation of the commission to certain extent.
Once the dismissal of Katara is approved by the President of India, there will be four posts to be filled before this outgoing government. Since this is a constitution position for maximum of six years tenure, people especially bureaucrats prefer to get a foothold as member or chairman. The change of government has no impact on their existence.
According to sources, one serving OSD to chief minister and two retired Director General of police services are lobbying hard for these posts. Apart from that two loyalists of Gehlot having no service background are also eyeing for the posts.
Rajasthan State Information Commission
There are three posts likely to be filled in this commission. The tenure of chairman and information commissioners is 5 years or till the age of 65 years, whichever is earlier. These are also constitutional posts immune to any change in the government. So a lot of lobbying happens for appointments on these posts. Not only retired IAS and IPS but also senior jouralists, advocates and retired judges vie for these posts.
At least three senior journalists, three retired IAS and three retired IPS are awaiting this opportunity. The government has little time to decide on these appointments.
Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA)
This is one of the most sought-after positions in the post retirement assignment. Three IAS – two retired and one serving – are vying for the chairmanship of RERA, where two retired IAS – Shailendra Agarwal and Salvinder Singh Sahota – are already appointed as members.
Veenu Gupta, who is serving as additional chief secretary industries, mining and petroleum is the frontrunner and the most eligible for the post. Other contenders include P K Goyal and Ravi Shankar Srivastava, who had retired as additional chief secretary. One retired chief engineer of Housing Board has also applied for this post.
Apart from that, there are 14 Urban Improvement Trusts (UITs) in the state which have posts of 4-10 members besides the chairman. But during the entire tenure of Gehlot government, collectors of respective districts held charge of chairman and no member was appointed. Gehlot government missed a chance of making appointments in these urban bodies to cash in on political benefits.
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