SHUFFLING THE PACK

The BJP government in Haryana may have chosen to overlook several recommendations of the Prakash Singh Committee following the caste riots in the state earlier this year, but it takes the feedback of its own partymen, ministers, MLAs and advisers seriously. In what’s probably the biggest reshuffle of his tenure, CM Manohar Khattar has shifted 26 IAS officers with immediate effect.

The reshuffle covered top bosses of key departments, including power, town and country planning, health, finance, excise and taxation, food and civil supplies and labour. And, sources say, that rumours of the reshuffle began when the government held a series of feedback sessions with MLAs and advisors. Among the babus affected are additional secretary for power R.K. Gupta, principal secretary for excise Anurag Rastogi, additional chief secretary for food and supplies Shyam Sundar Prasad, and additional chief secretary for finance Sanjeev Kaushal, among others.

The state government has overlooked the minimum tenure policy by transferring several officers much before completion of the two-year tenure. Health, for instance, has had four additional chief secretaries in the past two years. Meanwhile, there is still no word on whether the government will take action against the police officers indicted by the Prakash Singh panel for dereliction of duty during the riots.