Massive rejig in bureaucracy: Mehrishi made CAG

In a massive bureaucracy rejig that may raise several eyebrows, Modi government on Thursday evening gave the plum post of Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) to Rajiv Mehrishi as soon as he retired from the post of the Union Home Secretary.

Mehrishi, a 1978-batch Rajasthan cadre IAS officer, was made the union home secretary on the final day of his superannuation as Finance Secretary (in-charge of Department of Economic Affairs) on August 31, 2015. He handed over the baton of Ministry of Home Affairs to 1982-batch IAS officer of Jharkhand cadre Rajiv Gauba.

Even before the announcement, it was speculated that Mehrishi might be handed over the post of a Governor or the Election Commissioner. Mehrishi will replace Shashi Kant Sharma, who was appointed by the Congress led UPA government in May 2013.

Besides Mehrishi, the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) approved the appointments of Ashwini Attri, Anita Pattanayak and Ranjan Kumar Ghose as Deputy CAG.

In another key appointment, the government appointed former IAS officer Sunil Arora as the Election Commissioner. The Commission was working with only two Election Commissioners after the retirement of Nasim Zaidi as CEC.