CM issues veiled warning to bureaucrats as RD Dhiman takes over as HP chief secy
SHIMLA: A day after Himachal Pradesh chief minister Jai Ram Thakur removed chief secretary Ram Subagh Singh and replaced him with 1988-batch officer RD Dhiman, he made a veiled warning to the bureaucrats in the state on Friday.
“Officers who are hoping for the change of power should know there will be surprises like Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, where the BJP repeated its governments,” Jai Ram said.
Officers, he said, who are changing colours in the pollbound state should see the fate of the those in UP. The CM, meanwhile, also expressed hope that officers will continue to work zealously. “I expect that officers will continue to work with zeal till the time model code of conduct does not come into force,” he added.
It may be noted here that the Congress has been time and again warning that it would act against the officers who were working at the behest of BJP when voted to power.
Jai Ram had on Thursday appointed Ram Dass Dhiman as the new chief secretary.
Dhiman has superseded three IAS officers, including Subagh’s wife Nisha Singh, Ali Raza Rizvi and Sanjay Gupta. Subagh was appointed chief secretary in August last year in place of 1986batch IAS officer Anil Khachi, who was then given the charge of the state election commissioner.
Jai Ram reportedly does not share comfortable relations with top bureaucrats. Vidya Chander Pharkha was the chief secretary during the Virbhadra Singh regime and was appointed as adviser after Jai Ram took over the reins of the state. Jai Ram replaced Pharkha with Vineet Chawdhary as his new chief secretary, who superannuated nine months later. Brij Kumar Aggarwal succeeded him and retained the post for almost one year.
Shrikant Baldi, the current chairperson of RERA, succeeded Aggarwal on September 2, 2019, and remained in the office till December 31, 2020.
Khachi succeeded Baldi, but was removed eight months later. Subagh had taken over the baton from Khachi.
Ram Subagh Singh has now been given the charge of principal adviser (administrative reforms), while Nisha Singh, additional chief secretary (rural development), has been appointed as the principal adviser (training) and Sanjay Gupta, additional chief secretary (social justice), is the principal adviser (redressal of public grievances).