The chairman of Rajasthan Electricity Regulatory Commission (RERC) Badri Narain Sharma is retiring next month. The post will fall vacant and top former bureaucrats will be lining up to grab that opportunity. The last date of working is 31.7.2024 and the applications have already been invited for the next chairman.
B N Sharma, a 1985-batch officer was appointed as chairman of RERC in 2021 after he retired in 2019 as additional secretary in union finance ministry. His tenure was good no controversy erupted during that period and the commission worked well to resolve issues.
A post graduate in commerce, Sharma has been credited for the formulation of GST and its implementation while working as additional secretary in revenue department. He was a member of the board of directors of the GSTN— the infotech backbone of the nationwide order matching system which is GST that completely transformed the Indian taxation system.
Who can be the next RERC chairman?
The post chairman of RERC is generally occupied by retired IAS officer, who has come from direct recruitment. The tenure of the chairman is five years of till 65 years of age whichever is earlier. According to sources in bureaucracy, retired bureaucrats who can apply for this post are – P K Goyal, a 1988-batch officer, who retired as additional chief secretary in 2023. Goyal was recently appointed as member of Rajasthan State Farmers Debt Relief Commission by the outgoing Gehlot government. But he declined the offer to join.
Usha Sharma, who is wife of incumbent B N Sharma may also apply for this post. She retired in December 2023 as chief secretary of Rajasthan after an extended tenure of six months. She is a 1985-batch officer.
Rajeshwar Singh, who is serving as chairman of revenue board and tax board, may also apply for this post. He is scheduled to retire next month. He is 1989-batch IAS officer. If he gets through he will have full five years to serve.
Rohit Kumar Singh may also be a contender for this post as he recently got retired in March 2024 as secretary consumer affairs. A 1989-batch officer, he can be a good choice for chairman RERC. His wife Nina Singh, who is 1989-batch IPS officer, is also getting superannuated next month. She is the first woman IPS to be the DG of Central Industrial Security Force (CISF).
There are few more officers who retired in recent times and can apply. But their contention is not strong. One of them is R Venkateswaran, who is a 1990-batch officer and got retired in June 2022. He had been controversial and faced corruption charges.
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.
