Amid shortage of IAS officers, another Himachal bureaucrat gets central deputation
Union govt approves central deputation for Himachal IAS officer Priyatu Mandal, worsening state's officer shortage. Several others seeking central deputation.
With the state already facing acute shortage of Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers, the Union government has given consent to one more IAS officer from Himachal cadre to proceed on central deputation. Priyatu Mandal, a 2006-batch officer, has been appointed as the Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee National Water and Sanitation Institute, Kolkata, director and institute head.
The state government is already facing a shortage of senior IAS officers, with only 111 serving in the state against a sanctioned strength of 153. The departure of these officers will further deepen the trouble.
Priyatu Mandal is currently handling the responsibility of fisheries as well as revenue, rural development and panchayati raj department, technical education, vocational and industrial training secretary. It was obvious that after Priyatu Mandal’s departure, there will be administrative reshuffle in the state. The responsibility of his departments will be handed over to other IAS officers.
Just last week, special secretary rank IAS Ashutosh Garg was appointed as secretary to the Union minister Jagat Prakash Nadda, heading for central deputation for five years.
At the same time, three senior IAS Amandeep Garg, Shanomol and Manish Garg have sought permission from the state government to go on central deputation before the Lok Sabha and assembly bypolls.
Three other IAS officers, managing director Himachal Road Transport Corporation (HRTC) Rohan Chand Thakur, director tourism Mansi Sahay and special secretary multipurpose project and power Arindam Chaudhary have also applied for central deputation. Their departure from the state will further the shortage of officers .
In the last 16 months, eight IAS officers have already proceeded on central deputation, while another seven in the process. Another eight are already on central deputation. As many as 16 IAS officers are serving in other states.
Senior IAS officers of Himachal cadre Ali Raza Rizvi, K Sanjay Murthy, KK Pant, Anuradha Thakur have, meanwhile, been given one year extension in the central deputation till March 23, 2025.
Bharat Khera, Rajneesh, Shubhashish Panda, Pushpendra Rajput and others on central deputation include R Selvam, Ritesh Chauhan, Rugved Thakur, Lalit Jain, Devshweta Banik, Pankaj Rai and Ashutosh Garg. Nandita Gupta and Meera Mohanty are also currently posted in Delhi.