Rajiv Gauba may be next Cabinet Secy

Union Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba may be appointed as next Cabinet Secretary, replacing P K Sinha, whose four year tenure comes to an end on June 12, officials said Monday.

Chief Secretary of Jammu and Kashmir, B V R Subrahmanyam, a1987 batch IAS officer of Chhattisgarh cadre, seems to be the top contender forthe post of union home secretary after Gauba.

   

Gauba, one of the senior most bureaucrats, had served invarious capacities in central government as well as in Jharkhand and Bihargovernments, is supposed to complete his two-year tenure as home secretary onAugust 31.

There is all likelihood that Gauba will be the next CabinetSecretary, the top post in the country’s bureaucracy, an official privy to thedevelopment said.

If Gauba, a 1982 batch Jharkhand cadre IAS officer, isappointed as cabinet secretary, he will have a fixed two-year tenure, which canbe extendable for further two years.

Incumbent Sinha was first appointed in 2015 for two years.He got an year extension of service in 2017 and again another year in 2018.

Both predecessors of Sinha — Ajit Kumar Seth and K MChandrasekhar — had also served the post for four years.

Seth, who was appointed by the UPA dispensation in 2011continued in the post till 2015 after the NarendraModi government came to powerin 2014.

As per the government rules, no government servant shall begranted extension in service beyond the age of retirement of 60 years but asper rule FR 56, extension in public interest may be given “for a periodnot exceeding four years in the case of Cabinet Secretary”.

If Gauba’s name is cleared by the Appointment Committee ofCabinet in the new government after it assumes charge on May 30, he will firstbe appointed as Officer on Special Duty, some time in first week of June beforetaking over the charge from Sinha, another official said.

In the central government, Gauba had served as secretary inthe ministry of urban development, additional secretary in the ministry of homeaffairs, joint secretary in the ministry of environment.

He had also served as chief secretary of Jharkhand, ResidentCommissioner of Jharkhand in Delhi.Before bifurcation of Bihar, Gauba had alsoserved as district magistrate of Gaya, Nalanda and Muzaffarpur districts. Gaubahad also served as private secretary to the then Defence Minister GeorgeFernandes in the AtalBihari Vajpayee government.

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