With the charge of 21 departments under his belt, retired IAS officer Rajesh Khullar (Retd.IAS:1988:HY) is set to rule the roost in the CMO led by Chief Minister Nayab Saini. Originally, a close associate of former Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar, Khullar continues to occupy the centre stage in state’s bureaucracy under the new CM as Chief Principal Secretary to CM Saini.
It became evident during work distribution among officers in the CMO a few days back as Saini entrusted Khullar with 21 key departments. These include almost all departments held by the CM, as well as one or more departments held by most other ministers in the Haryana cabinet.
Besides being the overall in-charge of the CMO, most files will not move forward without his approval.
The critical departments he will oversee are excise and taxation, finance, revenue, health, home, industries, irrigation, administration of justice, Ayush, general administration, information and PR, jails, labour, medical education, public health engineering, parliamentary affairs, law and legislative affairs, Raj Bhawan affairs, public works, social justice and empowerment, town and country planning and urban and rural planning.
Besides, Khullar will be overseeing legislative proposals and even matters related to issuing ordinances. Further, all subjects not allotted to any other officers will also go automatically to him.
In work distribution exercise, CM’s principal secretary Arun Kumar Gupta (IAS:1992:HY) was assigned nine departments and he will also be handling work related to the CM’s announcements.
The departments to be looked after by Gupta are civil aviation, forests, environment & wildlife, food supply, housing, mining, transport, urban local bodies, cooperation and youth empowerment.
Additional principal secretary to the CM Saket Kumar (IAS:2005:HY) will oversee agriculture, animal husbandry, development and panchayats, elections, fisheries, foreign affairs, soldier & paramilitary welfare, women and child development, Kurukshetra Development Board, as well as monitor the performance of departments under the ‘CM Window’.
Saini’s deputy principal secretary Yash Pal (IAS:2011:HY) will look after architecture, archives, higher education, school education, sports, printing & stationery, heritage & tourism, and Haryana Sarasvati Heritage Development Board.
Sudhanshu Gautam, Officer on Special Duty (OSD) in the CMO, will be responsible for Government Housing Allotment, CM Announcements, CM Relief Fund, Haryana Rural Development Fund, HRMS & Online Transfer Policy and the Waqf Board.
Rakesh Sandhu, another OSD, will handle public grievances while Vivek Kalia, also an OSD, will look after CM Window and manage Jan Samvad programme.
