Why it makes sense for DIPP secretary PK Chaudhery to be Haryana chief secretary

PK Chaudhery, a 1977 batch Haryana cadre IAS currently working as DIPP secretary, will replace Urvashi Gulati as chief secretary of Haryana after state chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda wrote to union personnel ministry seeking his repatriation, according to reports published in a national daily.

Chaudhery, who was additional secretary and then special secretary in the ministry of commerce, was a major contender for the commerce secretary’s post when...
there were reports that incumbent commerce secretary Rahul Khullar would take up an assignment at Brussels in March first week. But Khullar preferred to continue as commerce secretary for one more year rather than relocating himself to a cushy yet least powerful foreign post.

As Chaudhery has 15 more months to retire, he had a choice: Either to continue as DIPP secretary or to head the bureaucracy in his home state. Despite being a small state, Haryana has a very few advantages which many other large states lack. State chief secretary, for example, wields more power thanks to the state's housing of major industries and proximity to New Delhi’s power centre.

A Humphrey fellow from USA, Chaudhery first came to Delhi on Central deputation in 1986 as deputy secretary in the ministry of steel. Chaudhery also served as principal secretary in state’s Information Technology department and then headed the industry department.

Action and Appointments 

a) Rajiv Nayan Choubey, a 1981 batch Tamil Nadu cadre IAS and presently development commissioner (handlooms) in the ministry of textiles, has been appointed as additional secretary in the ministry of home affairs in place of DRS Chaudhary, a 1977 batch MP cadre IAS.

b) Ashok Singhvi, a 1983 batch Rajasthan cadre IAS, has been appointed as joint secretary in urban development ministry in place of Dr M M Kutty, a 1985 batch UT cadre IAS.

c) Rajat Bhargava, a 1990 batch Andhra Pradesh cadre IAS, has been appointed as joint secretary in the department of economic affairs (DEA) in place of Shaktikanta Das, a 1980 batch Tamil Nadu cadre IAS who was already promoted as additional secretary.

d) Ms Tshering Yangzhom Das, a 1982 batch Assam cadre IAS, has been appointed as joint secretary in the ministry of development of North-East in place of PK Pattnaik, a 1980 batch Bihar cadre IAS, who has been repatriated to his parent cadre ahead of time.