Rajasthan chief secy changed 3 months before his retirement

Rajeeva Swarup replaces DB Gupta as the chief secretary of the state; 103 IAS officers reshuffled

JAIPUR: The Ashok Gehlot-led Rajasthan government changed its top bureaucrat three months before his retirement in a major bureaucratic rejig late Thursday night, according to the list posted on the website of the department of personnel.

Rajeeva Swarup, a 1985-batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer, has been named the new chief secretary, but is due to retire in October.

The incumbent, DB Gupta, a 1983-batch IAS officer, who is due to retire in September, has not been given a posting.

Speculations are rife that Gupta may opt for voluntary retirement.

Swarup has been the additional chief secretary (ACS) of the state home department.

He has been busy issuing guidelines for lockdown restrictions, which were enforced from March 25 in a bid to contain the spread of the raging coronavirus disease (Covid-19) outbreak.

The government released a list of 103 IAS officers who were being transferred,

Rohit Kumar Singh, who was heading the state health department amid the viral outbreak, has been moved to the home department to replace Swarup.

Akhil Arora, principal secretary of social justice and empowerment department, has been named the new principal secretary, health, and a replacement for Singh.

Subodh Agrawal, who was ACS (industries) and coordinated the movement of stranded migrant workers from other states amid the easing of lockdown restrictions, has been made ACS (mines & petroleum).

District collectors of 17 districts, including Jaipur, have been changed. Also, of the seven divisional commissioners, five have been changed.

Jaipur’s collector Joga Ram has been replaced by Antar Singh Nehra; divisional commissioner KC Verma replaced by Somnath Mishra; Zila Parishad chief executive officer (CEO) Bharti Dixit replaced by Athar Aamir Ul Shafi Khan.

‘PRIORITY IS TO BRING STATE BACK ON TRACK’

Newly appointed chief secretary Rajeeva Swarup said the state and the country are facing a serious situation because of the Covid-19 outbreak.

“The government’s priority is to bring the state back on track economically and control the coronavirus pandemic medically,” Rajeeva Swarup said.

“I am thankful to the CM for trusting me during this difficult time. I will strive to come up to his expectation. We need to work with urgency to bring normalcy to the state.”

ROHIT KUMAR SINGH,

WHO WAS HEADING THE STATE HEALTH DEPARTMENT AMID THE COVID OUTBREAK, HAS BEEN MOVED TO THE HOME DEPARTMENT TO REPLACE SWARUP.