Cabinet secretary contender M Ramachandran could be made Election Commissioner of India

URBAN development secretary and 1972 batch Uttarakhand cadre IAS, M Ramachandran, who missed the bus to become the country’s top bureaucrat, may now be considered for the post of Election Commissioner that will be vacant after Chief Election Commission and 1969 batch retired IAS Navin Chawla retires in July this year, and Election Commissioner Dr SY Quraishi, a 1971 batch retired IAS, possibly takes over as CEC, a person close to the development said.

In fact, the second one-year extension of current cabinet secretary KM Chandrasekhar dashed the hopes of all 1972 and 1973 batch IAS officers to grab the top bureaucrat’s post, and leading the pack was none other than Dr Ramachandran. Though no one questions the efficiency and integrity of Mr Chandrasekhar, there has been a general discontentment and tension among top IAS officers about the trend set by Mr Chandrasekhar’s four-year term for a post that by rules has a two-year-long tenure.

However, if Mr Ramachandran who retires in the end of this month, gets the post of Election Commissioner, he will have almost a five-year term, apart from having a chance of becoming the Chief Election Commissioner at a later stage. The Election Commissioners including the Chief Election Commissioner retire at the age of 65.

Also, there are speculations that another 1972 batch IAS and tourism secretary, Sujit Banerjee, could get an extension till the Commonwealth Games are over. Mr Banerjee retires in July this year.

Retired CBDT and CBEC Members included in Nilekani-led Advisory Group

The Technical Advisory Group for Unique Projects (TAGUP), under the chairmanship of Nandan Nilekani, will have SS Khan, former member, CBDT and PRV Ramanan, former member, CBEC as its members. The other members will be CB Bhave, chairman SEBI, R Chandrasekhar, secretary, department of IT, Dhirendra Swarup, former chairman PFRDA and Dr Nachiket Mor, president, ICICI Foundation for Inclusive Growth.

Action and Appointments

a) The extension of tenure of VK Sadhu, a 1976 batch CSS and Principal Commissioner (joint secretary level), of Delhi Development Authority upto December 31, 2011, has been approved.

b) The ACC has not approved the proposal for the appointment of Raghava Chandra, a 1982 batch MP cadre IAS as joint secretary in the Department of Economic Affairs (DEA), in place of Kumar Sanjay Krishna, a 1985 batch Assam cadre IAS who is now a principal secretary in the cadre.

c) The proposal of the ministry of defence for extension of Central deputation tenure of T Ramachandru, a 1984 batch Orissa cadre IAS for a period of three months upto September 12, 2010, has been approved.

d) Arun Kumar Bal, a 1986 batch West Bengal cadre IAS has been appointed as joint secretary in the department of defence.