S Gopal Puri
Shimla: A government notification issued on August 25 has set off animated discussion across Himachal Pradesh’s bureaucratic and political circles as two IAS officers swapped high-visibility assignments spanning the power sector and Kangra’s revenue and cooperative institutions.
According to the Department of Personnel order, issued “on the recommendations of the Civil Services Board”, 2010-batch Himachal-cadre IAS officer Sandeep Kumar has been relieved as the Managing Director, Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board Ltd. (HPSEBL), Shimla, and posted as Settlement Officer, Kangra Division at Dharamshala. He has also been given additional charge of Managing Director, Kangra Central Cooperative Bank Ltd, Dharamshala (Kangra district).
Aditya Negi, a 2013-batch IAS officer of the Himachal cadre, who was serving as the Settlement Officer, Kangra, at Dharamshala with the additional charge of MD, Kangra Central Cooperative Bank, has been appointed as the Managing Director, HPSEBL, Shimla.
The notification bears the signature of Chief Secretary Prabodh Saxena, with circulation to all authorities concerned and carries a countersignature by the Special Secretary (Personnel). Transfers are routine in the hill state, but the timing and portfolio swap, especially involving the electricity board and Kangra’s settlement office, have prompted speculations.
Sources say part of the chatter links the move to recent turbulence around the HPSEBL’s functioning, especially after a widely discussed local news report claimed the board’s chairman questioned the MD’s attendance and project reviews.
Others in the corridors of power allege the perceived political association of one of the officers with a leader not favoured by the ruling dispensation. Top officers in the government refused to comment citing it as an “internal administrative matter”.
