This is not for the first time a secretary in union government has been repatriated to state-cadre when chief secretary of that state is getting superannuated. Manoj Ahuja, agriculture secretary of union government has been sent back to his parent cadre – Odisha – where BJP has attained power. The chief secretary of Odisha Pradeep Kumar Jena, who is on six-month extension, is retiring on June 30. Ahuja is tipped to be the next secretary of Odisha where BJP is running the government for the first time.
The trend of sending back trusted bureaucrat from centre probably started with Durga Shankar Mishra, who was sent to Uttar Pradesh two days before his retirement in December 2021. Mishra was then serving as union secretary for urban affairs. Since then Mishra has been on extension and his tenure is likely to end this month if any further extension is not granted.
When Manipur was on fire in May 2023 due to violent clashes between Kuki and Meitei, central government repatriated Dr Vineet Joshi, who was serving as additional secretary, to Manipur. He was appointed as the chief secretary replacing Dr. Rajesh Kumar.
The appointment of Atal Dulloo, a 1988-batch IAS, as the chief secretary of Jammu And Kashmir in November 2023 was on the similar lines. Dulloo, was was central deputation serving as secretary border management department before being repatriated to the home cadre to take up the top post.
The trend continued with Sudhansh Pant being sent back to his home cadre to assume charge as the chief secretary of Rajasthan. Pant superseded six officers before repatriation as chief secretary. He was serving as union secretary for health and family welfare ministry. Just like Durga Shankar Mishra and Dulloo Pant is also centre's choice for the top post in state.
Now the centre has probably extended this trend to Odisha also. The union secretary for agriculture Manoj Ahuja has been sent back to home cadre and in all probability will be the chief secretary in the first-ever BJP government in the state.
“The central government wants to appoint its loyal, tried and tested officers as chief secretary in BJP ruled state to bring cohesiveness in operations. Since appointment of chief secretary is state government's prerogative, centre can't interfere in non BJP ruled states,” said a senior IAS officer.
Prakash Bhandari is a veteran journalist with over 50 years of experience. He has worked with The Times of India for 30 years and contributed to leading publications as well as international news agency AFP.
