Haryana reshuffles 26 IAS, HCS officers; town planning, urban local bodies depts change hands

Gurugram: The Haryana government has ordered a wide-ranging reshuffle of its bureaucracy, moving 26 IAS and HCS officers in a single stroke, with an order signed Tuesday by Chief Secretary Anurag Rastogi. The list, issued 'with immediate effect', touches almost every layer of the state administration, from principal secretaries who run departments in Chandigarh to estate officers posted in Gurugram and Hisar. The most visible change concerns J. Ganesan, a 2006-batch IAS officer. He has been relieved of the Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs department and of the Housing for All department, both handed over to other officers. Ganesan has been given charge of the Town and Country Planning department and the post of Director General, Urban Estate—both departments earlier headed by Amit Khatri, a 2011-batch IAS officer. Ganesan retains his charge of the Citizen Resources Information department and continues as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) set up for the Haryana AI Development Project and the Haryana Clean Air Project. Charge of the Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs department has been handed to Amneet P. Kumar, who was so far in charge of the departments of Foreign Cooperation and Sports, besides the newly-created Department of Future. Kumar keeps Sports and the Department of Future but not Foreign Cooperation, which is now with Ashok Kumar Meena, a 2006-batch IAS officer already heading the Urban Local Bodies department. Housing for All has been handed to Chander Shekhar Khare, a 2008-batch IAS officer, who, in turn, gives up his charge of HAFED, the state's cooperative federation. HAFED goes to Anish Yadav, a 2014-batch officer. Rajeev Ranjan, principal secretary in the Labour department, has been given additional charge of the Fisheries department, a post that was lying vacant. Shekhar Vidyarthi, who heads the Women and Child Development department and Fire Services, has been made chairman of the Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB), a charge earlier held by Vinay Pratap Singh. Singh, a 2011-batch IAS officer, has been moved to head the Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (HSIIDC) and the Haryana Financial Corporation, both previously with Sushil Sarwan. Sarwan has been shifted to the Development and Panchayats department and made Managing Director of the Haryana State Cooperative Apex Bank. Among other significant moves, Rajnarayan Kaushik, a 2010-batch IAS officer, takes over as Managing Director of Haryana State Electronics Development Corporation Limited (HARTRON) and the Haryana State Warehousing Corporation, charges earlier held by Ganesan and Sharandeep Kaur Brar, respectively. Brar has been made Director General of Urban Local Bodies. Mukul Kumar, who held that post along with charge of the Hospitality department, is now Chief Administrator of the Haryana Shehri Vikas Pradhikaran (HSVP), Panchkula, and Managing Director of the Gurugram Metro Rail Ltd and the Haryana Mass Rapid Transport Corporation—both posts vacated by Khare. Mani Ram Sharma, Secretary in the Health department, has been shifted to the Revenue and Disaster Management department and made Chief Settlement Commissioner. At the HCS level, too, the order carries several routine but consequential postings. Neeraj Sharma (2022 batch) takes over as Secretary of the State Police Complaint Authority from Yogesh Kumar Mehta, who has been given charge of the Haryana State Food Commission. Virat, an OSD in the office of the Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister, has been additionally given charge of the Printing and Stationery department, replacing Vivek Padam Singh, who has been posted as Administrator, HSVP, Rohtak. Among estate officers, Rakesh Saini moves from Estate Officer-I to Estate Officer-II in Gurugram, while Anupma Malik takes his place as Estate Officer-I. Jagdeep Singh, currently OSD to the Commissioner of Hisar Division, has been posted as Estate Officer, HSVP, Hisar, in place of Aanchal Bhaskar, who has proceeded on leave. The order also formally notes that the posts of Managing Director, HAFED, and Managing Director, HARTRON, have been declared equivalent in rank to the Super Time Scale (mid-senior tier) of the IAS, while the posts of Chief Administrator, HSVP, Panchkula, and Administrator, HSVP, Rohtak, have been placed on a par with the Senior Scale. (Edited by Amrtansh Arora) Also Read: Haryana govt moves IPS officer Bijarniya twice in 48 hrs as Karnal 'double encounter' row simmers