By Vivek Shukla
After a long time important departments like Department of Information and Public Relations (DIPR) and Information Technology & Communication (IT&C) have got full time secretaries. For more than a year's time these two departments are being handled by Additional Chief Secretary (ACS) Finance Akhil Arora as an additional charge. Now with full time secretaries, works in both these departments are likely to pick up pace. Arora was given additional charge of DIPR in January 2022 and that of IT&C in April 2022 when principal secretary Alok Gupta was transferred to administrative reforms department.
The government appointed Gaurav Goyal as secretary DIPR and Anandhi as secretary IT&C. Goyal will continue to serve in her current role of secretary to CM along with DIPR while Anandhi has just come back to cadre after her tenure as deputy director in Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA), Mussoorie.
“Full time secretary is needed for fast disposal. ACS Arora is very efficient officer but is overloaded with work. Handling sensitive and ‘typical' department like Finance itself is a big challenge,” said a senior bureaucrat, who has worked with Arora in different capacities.
However, another important department Urban Development and Housing is still waiting for a full time secretary. The department is being handled as an additional charge by T Ravikanth, who is principal secretary of medical education. There has not been any major activity in this department since Kunji Lal Meena, then principal secretary UDH was transferred to Indira Gandhi Panchayatiraj Sansthan two months back. The work in the department has come to almost standstill with transfer of an RAS officer Maneesh Goyal, who was in the department for almost 4 years. Goyal was handling important portfolio.
Sanchita Vishnoi, another joint secretary in UDH has been recently promoted to IAS. It was expected that she gets a posting of IAS outside UDH department. But she has been retained in UDH as there is lack of senior officers in the department.
“Since there is no full time head of department in UDH, Vishnoi's transfer has been withheld. She is likely to be there till UDH gets a full time secretary,” said a senior official.
