Rajasthan: Ashok Gehlot may bring his old team of babus back at the Secretariat

Changes in the bureaucracy is on the cards as soon as the new chief minister takes oath on Monday. The changes will begin with inclusion of new faces on key posts in the CMO and in the secretariat while shuffling of top cops in the commissionerate in Jaipur and Jodhpur and also in the police headquarters in the coming week.

Since Ashok Gehlot is known to work with his team of officials like any other chief minister, it is being speculated that, the ones who have already worked with him will be in the inner circle of the administration.

Sources inform that senior IAS officer Niranjan Kumar Arya may be the top choice for the post of secretary to the chief minister. An IAS officer of 1989 batch , Arya is currently posted as commissioner of departmental inquiries and had been secretary to chief minister Ashok Gehlot between 2012 and 2013. 

Arya has held important departments in previous tenure of Gehlot . He was registrar of cooperative department which is the nodal department for farmers loan while he also held charge of transport department during the same regime of Gehlot.

The other name which is doing the rounds for a posting in CMO as secretary (II) of CM is that of Kuldeep Ranka. A known performer, Ranka was JDA commissioner between 2011 and 2013 when Gehlot was CM for the second time. Importantly he was a key player in Jaipur Metro rail project which was conceptualised by Gehlot and was also there when the project began from scratch. His style of keeping low profile while working suits Gehlot said a sources in secretariat. Due to his vast experience in urban planning he could be posted with UDH too. Currently he is posted as Principal Secretary in department of tourism.

Another senior IAS officer who may get an important posting now is Rajat Mishra. Though he is still holding the charge of principal secretary PHED which is a key department as Rajasthan is a water scarcity state, Mishra, during the earlier stint of Gehlot was posted as CM secretary along with Shreemat Pandey. 

The duo were a complete success in CMO in those days and now while Pandey has retired Mishra may be given some more important role.

Sources inform that another IAS officer Sudhansh Pant, who is currently on deputation as joint secretary in government of India in department of health and family affairs, may come back to the state which he had left just after Vasundhara Raje government was formed in 2013. Pant was heading the petroleum and mines department in 2013 when the dream project of refinery was launched by Ashok Gehlot. He was the one who played a key role in negotiations with HPCL and in the study conducted by the government for setting up the refinery in Pachpadra.

Refinery has always been close to Gehlot’s heart even when he was in the Opposition, thus to take the project forward, Pant seems to be the obvious choice if he comes back to Jaipur.

Pant’s working was highly appreciated as CMD in JVVNL during the second stint of Gehlot while he also played a key role in development of Jaipur as JDC.

Names of bureaucrats like Rajesh Yadav, Ajitabh Sharma, Subodh Agarwal and many others are also doing the rounds for important posts in the new set up now.