By Our Staff Reporter
Dehradun, 5 Jul: Sukhbir Singh Sandhu, a 1988 batch IAS officer of Uttarakhand cadre has been appointed the new Chief Secretary in place of Om Prakash by Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami.
Dhami probably wants to project that he wishes to work with a new team of officers and this is the first such move, taken within a day of him taking over as CM. Sandhu was on Central deputation where he was posted as Chairperson of National Highways Authority of India. Additional Chief Secretary Radha Raturi was asked to write to the Union Personnel Department requesting that Sandhu be relieved for his parent cadre this morning, itself. The Centre, too, swiftly relieved Sandhu and as soon as this was done, he was appointed as Chief Secretary to replace Om Prakash. Orders in this respect were issued today.
Outgoing Chief Secretary Om Prakash is a 1987 batch IAS officer and has been appointed as Chairman of the Revenue Board which is an independent body of the government. It is also independent of the Chief Secretary’s control in respect of its functioning. Also, Om Prakash has also been given additional charge as Chief Resident Commissioner of Uttarakhand in New Delhi. It remains to be seen if the CM goes for a major reshuffle of the bureaucracy. The first such move to replace the Chief Secretary seemed to be driven more by a particular narrative than for a specific reason.
Union Minister Nitin Gadkari has congratulated SS Sandhu on his new appointment and praised his performance as NHAI Chairman.
