Chandrasekhar and his 10 bureaucrat commanders to take rein from Kalmadi and Co

THIS is the biggest ever victory of Indian bureaucracy at least during the last one decade if not more. During the final lap of the run-up to the controversy-ridden Commonwealth Games, Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh has taken out his trump card – an army of 10 IAS officers under cabinet secretary KM Chandrasekhar to manage the biggest sporting extravaganza, making the all-powerful Organizing Committee under Suresh Kalmadi virtually a subordinate body.

For the hand-picked bureaucrats, it’s quite a challenge as Prime Minister chose to trust bureaucracy rather than handing over the work to a group of ministers. Though there would be a group of ministers under urban development minister S Jaipal Reddy, the actual command will be in the hands of Chandrasekhar and his 10 commanders.

Here are the 10 bureaucrats, four additional secretaries and six joint secretaries, chosen by KM Chandrasekhar for the job.

1. Subodh Kumar: A post  graduate in physics with special 14 weeks-long training at UK in 2001, Subodh Kumar is a 1977 batch Maharastra cadre IAS, currently working as additional secretary in department of telecom (DoT).

2. SR Rao: A double MA in social work and rural development (UK), SR Rao is a 1978 batch Gujarat cadre IAS, currently working as additional secretary in IT department. Rao is still known for his stint as Municipal Commissioner to a traumatized, plague-hit Surat city. He is credited with cleaning up the city and placing it back into normalcy.

3. RC Misra: Additional secretary in urban development ministry

4. Amarjeet Singh: Executive Director, Health Ministry

5. JS Deepak: A masters in business administration, JS Deepak is a 1982 batch UP cadre IAS, now serving as joint secretary in the ministry of commerce. He was in the ministry of telecom till recently where he had handled among others the famous 3G auction. He refused to toe the line of telecom minister A Raja for which he was transferred out of the telecom.

6. Rohit Nandan: An MA in history with an MBA from University of Hull, UK, Rohit Nandan is a 1982 batch UP cadre IAS now working as a joint secretary in civil aviation.

7. Shashi Shekar: A 1981 batch Tamil Nadu cadre IAS, Shashi Sekhar is now OSD-Power Trading Corporation.

8. Tara Dutt: Joint secretary at Cabinet Secretariat.

9. Gopal Krishna: A masters in physics and MBA, Gopal Krishna is a1983 batch West Bengal cadre IAS now working as secretary in Sports Authority of India. He had earlier served as joint secretary in the ministry of commerce.

10. Rajeev Kapur: A 1983 batch UP cadre IAS, Rajeev Kapur is now a joint secretary personnel and training.

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