I wanna be your PS: Union ministers choose IPS officers as their PS

NOW, IPS may have a new meaning: I wanna be your PS. If the recent trend in New Delhi’s corridors of power is anything to go by, a number of IPS officers have moved to Delhi to join various Union ministers as their PS or private secretaries.

The latest in the block are those senior police officers who chose to join ministers like Salman Khurshid, Virbhadra Singh and Jyotiraditya Scindia. According to rules, a minister may handpick his key staff members from any cadres -- IAS, IPS or Group A services etc., or even appoint someone with no experience in government at all.

Whereas a 1991 batch AGMUT cadre IPS officer, Ms Nuzhat Hassan, has been hired by minister of minority affair Salman Khurshid as his private secretary, Anand Pratap Singh, a 1997 batch Himachal Pradesh cadre IPS has been appointed as private secretary to the minister of micro, small and medium enterprises Virbhadra Singh. Mukesh Jain recently assumed charge as private secretary to minister of state for commerce and industry Jyotiraditya Scindia. Jain is a 1989 batch Madhya Pradesh cadre IPS officer.

Also, Alok Singh, a 1995 batch UP cadre IPS was recently appointed as private secretary at the level of a director to the minister of water resources Salman Khurshid.

No wonder, home minister P Chidambaram’s new Officer-On-Special Duty happens to be a 1996 batch IPS officer of Himachal Pradesh cadre --- Ajay Kumar Yadav. Yadav was working as Deputy Inspector General in CBI before joining as a key staff member of Indian home minister.

Secretaries In Action

The two day home secretary level talks between India and Pakistan begins in New Delhi on Monday. Indian side will be led by the home secretary GK Pillai whereas Qamar Zaman Chaudhary, secretary interior, Pakistan will lead the visiting delegation. Issues ranging from terrorism, narcotics control to counterfeit currency will figure during the talks.