Hindustan Times (Delhi)

Nitish shuffles babus, brings in his men

SHAKE UP In all, 26 IAS officers & 3 IPS officers shifted; Manjhi favourites moved from key department­s

- Subhash Pathak letters@hindustant­imes.com

PATNA: Barely two days after chief minister Nitish Kumar took over the reins of Bihar, a major bureaucrat­ic reshuffle was carried out on Tuesday, mostly on predictabl­e lines.

Though the new government took care to ensure that not all officers of the erstwhile Manjhi regime were ignored, they were moved from ‘key’ department­s. In all, 26 senior IAS officers and three IPS officers were shifted.

Home secretary Sudhir Kumar, brought in by Manjhi in place of Amir Subhani, was removed after a brief stint. He will now be the principal secretary, agricultur­e department.

Subhani has got back the home department in addition to general administra­tion and minority welfare. Amrit Lal Meena, principal secretary to Manjhi, has been moved to the urban developmen­t department to make way for DS Gangwar, who will now be Nitish’s principal secretary. Chanchal Kumar is back as secretary to the CM while Atish Chandra stays in the same capacity.

Arun Kumar Singh, principal secretary, science and technology, has been transferre­d to the road constructi­on department with additional charge of parliament­ary Home secretary Sudhir Kumar appointed principal secretary, agricultur­e department

Amrit Lal Meena, principal secretary to Manjhi was moved to the urban developmen­t dept DS Gangwar will now be principal secretary to Kumar

Arun Kumar Singh, principal secretary, science and technology, transferre­d to the road constructi­on department with additional charge of parliament­ary affairs B Rajender, secretary, urban developmen­t department, and Palka Sahni, MD, South Bihar Power Distributi­on Company Limited, have been relieved for central deputation.

affairs. He will also hold additional charge of science and technology department as also MD of the State Road Developmen­t Corporatio­n.

Harjot Kaur, who was sent as Singh’s replacemen­t, has been appointed principal secretary, tourism. B Rajender, secretary, urban developmen­t department, and Palka Sahni, MD, South Bihar Power Distributi­on Company Limited, have both been relieved for central deputation.

Meanwhile, Kumar slammed the recommenda­tions of the 14th finance commission to enhance grants by 10% to 42%, saying states like Bihar would not be benefited to the extent as claimed by the Centre.

Seeking a revision, he also criticised the Centre for contending that Bihar did not need special category status.

KUMAR ALSO HIT OUT AT THE CENTRE FOR CONTENDING THAT BIHAR DID NOT NEED SPECIAL CATEGORY STATUS

 ??  ?? Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar with West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee in Patna on Monday. PTI
Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar with West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee in Patna on Monday. PTI

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