The Haryana government on Friday (January 30, 2026) effected a minor yet significant reshuffle in the state bureaucracy, involving senior IAS officers and a young officer from the 2022 batch.
Senior IAS officer D Raja Sekhar Vundru (IAS:1990:HY), who was serving as Additional Chief Secretary (ACS), Fisheries Department and ACS, Transport Department, has been transferred and posted as ACS, Food, Civil Supplies & Consumer Affairs, while continuing to hold charge as ACS, Transport Department. He replaces D Suresh (IAS:1995:HY) in the Food, Civil Supplies & Consumer Affairs Department.
D Suresh has been posted as Resident Commissioner, Haryana Bhawan, New Delhi, and Principal Secretary, Fisheries Department, relieving D Raja Sekhar Vundru from the fisheries portfolio.
In a separate order, the state government transferred Shashvat Sangwan (IAS:2022:HY), who was serving as Sub-Divisional Officer (Civil), Thanesar. He has been appointed as Mission Director, Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban), relieving Jaideep Kumar (IAS:2019:HY).
M Anitha (IRS-IT:2007), currently serving as Director in the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM), has been appointed as Director in the Department of Defence.
According to an order issued by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) on Friday (January 30, 2026), the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved her appointment on a lateral shift basis under the Central Staffing Scheme.
She will hold the post from the date she assumes charge for the remaining period of her five-year central deputation tenure at the Director level, up to September 26, 2026, or until further orders, whichever is earlier.
The long-standing convention of appointing a Punjab cadre IAS officer as General Manager of the Food Corporation of India (FCI) Punjab Region has formally ended, with the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) clearing the appointment of Nitika Pawar (IAS:2012:AGMUT) to the post.
According to an order issued by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) on Friday (January 30, 2026), the ACC has approved the appointment of Pawar as General Manager (Region) (Director-level) of the FCI Punjab Region, headquartered in Chandigarh, on deputation basis under the Department of Food and Public Distribution. She has been appointed for a tenure of three years from the date she assumes charge, or until further orders, whichever is earlier.
The appointment follows the completion of the three-year tenure of B Srinivasan (IAS:2011:PB), who served as General Manager of the Food Corporation of India (FCI) Punjab Region until December 31, 2025. Following his exit, Haryana cadre IAS officer Sharandeep Kaur Brar (IAS:2009:HY) has been holding interim charge of the post.
This marks the first time since the creation of the FCI in 1965 that a non-Punjab cadre IAS officer has been appointed as the regular General Manager of the Punjab Region. Until now, all regular incumbents to the post had belonged to the Punjab cadre.
Pawar has been appointed on a lateral shift basis and has been directed to be relieved of her present duties immediately to enable her to take charge of the new assignment. She is currently serving as Deputy Financial Adviser (BSF) in the Ministry of Home Affairs and is posted in Chandigarh.
The appointment comes amid sustained objections from the Punjab government. Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann had earlier written to Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Pralhad Joshi, opposing the proposed posting of an AGMUT cadre officer. Mann had argued that the Punjab Region’s central role in national food grain procurement required an officer with deep familiarity with the state’s procurement ecosystem, something traditionally ensured by appointing Punjab cadre officers.
Mann had also pointed out that since the FCI’s inception, all 23 regular appointments to the GM (Punjab Region) post had been from the Punjab cadre, and that any deviation could impact coordination with farmers, arhtiyas and other stakeholders. Despite these objections and the submission of multiple panels of Punjab cadre officers by the state government, the Centre has gone ahead with the appointment.
The decision is being seen as a precedent-setting shift in cadre policy for key PSU regional leadership posts, particularly in states that play a critical role in national food security. How the change plays out on the ground, especially during procurement seasons, will be closely watched. (By- Rajeev Singh)
Pankaj Gupta (ITS:1995), currently serving as Chief Vigilance Officer and Directorate of Ordnance (Coordination & Services) [DOO (C&S)], Kanpur, has been prematurely repatriated to his parent cadre.
According to an order issued by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) on Friday (January 30, 2026), the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved his premature repatriation with the provision of extended cooling-off.
Notably, Pankaj Gupta has been serving in the post since September 2023. He was appointed for a three-year tenure, which was scheduled to run till September 2026, but is being curtailed prematurely.
Senior IAS officer Vivek Bhardwaj (IAS:1990:WB), who is currently serving as Secretary in the Ministry of Panchayat Raj, has been assigned additional charge of the posts of Secretary, Department of Rural Development and Secretary, Department of Land Resources.
According to an order issued by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) on Friday (January 30, 2026), the competent authority has approved the assignment of additional charge to Vivek Bhardwaj from January 31, 2026 to February 6, 2026. The additional charge has been given during the period of leave of Shailesh Kumar Singh (IAS:1991:JH), who is the regular incumbent of the posts.
Despite uncertainty over his successor, Bengal DGP Rajeev Kumar was accorded a warm send-off on Thursday, two days before his superannuation. He sounded philosophical during the farewell ceremony, saying courage is not always about action, but it’s about standing firm.
A 1990-batch IPS officer, Kumar opened up his mind while reflecting on his actions as a police officer, saying he followed his conscience as much as the law during his long policing career. “Our work is the final word. My conscience will tell me whether I am right or wrong. True courage speaks from within,” he said.
The Bengal government is yet to name the next chief of state police due to a legal imbroglio. Kumar’s name had been included in the panel of eight IPS officers that was sent to the UPSC following a Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) order. But the UPSC, instead of following the CAT’s order to complete the empanelment process and send it to the state govt by January 29, chose to move the Delhi High Court, scuttling the process.
Though the legal tangle has pushed the appointment of the next DGP into uncertainty, it has failed to deter the state police from organizing the farewell ceremony for Kumar.
Kumar lauded his colleagues profusely, describing Bengal a very important state strategically and geopolitically, as it shared borders with three nations—Bangladesh, Bhutan, and Nepal.
He reminded the Bengal Police how effectively they tackled Naxalism. “We are the only police force that tackled the Naxal challenge twice. This was not overcome without sacrifice. More than 250 people gave their lives,” he said.
The outgoing DGP reminded that the Bengal force also excelled in maintaining law and order, especially crowd control. He talked about the level of law and order maintained during festivals like Durga Puja or Gangasagar. He mentioned how people lost their lives elsewhere, but it was the state’s heritage and pride that ensured all the arrangements were made without the loss of lives.
Kumar reminded the police personnel that every officer from top to bottom at the level of the constabulary mattered for him. The outgoing DGP did not miss the opportunity to remember the role the family and friends play in a cop’s life.
The ongoing standoff between the Mamata Banerjee-led West Bengal government and the Election Commission of India (ECI) received a fresh impetus on Thursday after the Bengal government sought a review of the ECI’s directive asking it to cancel the transfer and additional postings of three IAS officers deputed for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process.
The three officers had been appointed as electoral roll observers by the EC, and the state govt’s decision to reassign them without the ECI’s prior approval triggered the confrontation with the poll panel, which termed the transfers “violative” of its instructions.
The state govt has now written to the ECI from Nabanna, urging it to reconsider its order.
The ball was set rolling on 28 November when the ECI appointed IAS officers Asvini Kumar Yadav, Randhir Kumar, and Smita Pandey as observers for the SIR exercise.
Yadav was assigned Uttar and Dakshin Dinajpur, Randhir Kumar North 24-Parganas and Kolkata North, while Smita Pandey was made observer for West Bardhaman, East Bardhaman, and Birbhum.
As per the Election Commission’s rules, officers deputed for election-related work cannot be transferred or given additional responsibilities without the commission’s concurrence.
However, the state government issued orders assigning additional responsibilities to Yadav and Randhir Kumar and transferring Smita Pandey between 31 December and 21 January, following which the poll body shot off a letter to Chief Secretary Nandini Chakraborty, directing the state govt to immediately cancel the orders and refrain from issuing similar instructions in the future without prior approval. The ECI also sought a compliance report.
According to reliable sources, the Mamata govt has not withdrawn the transfer orders so far. Instead, in its response, it has requested the ECI to review its directive, citing administrative difficulties. How the Commission responds to the state’s appeal is to be seen.
The row between the two is not restricted to the transfer of IAS officers alone. Another front for the fight opened after the Bengal govt sent the list of nine IAS and eight IPS officers of its choice to the ECI, requesting it to include these officers in the list of central observers as replacements for the ones named by the poll panel.
The Bengal govt’s action came a day after the ECI named 15 IAS and 10 IPS officers from the state to act as central election observers in the five poll-bound states—West Bengal, Assam, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Puducherry. The ECI’s list of officers included even Bengal’s Home Secretary Jagdeesh Prasad Meena and Howrah Police Commissioner Praveen Kumar Tripathy, among others, as central observers.
All officers named by the EC have also been asked to attend a mandatory two-day orientation programme scheduled for February 5 and 6 in New Delhi at the India International Institute of Democracy and Election Management, in the presence of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
These officers have been warned of strong disciplinary actions if any of them skip the training programme in Delhi.
As per ECI sources, the poll body had repeatedly asked the West Bengal government to recommend names of IAS and IPS officers from the state for appointment as poll observers in other states, but the state government allegedly sat on it initially and reacted only after the ECI named 25 bureaucrats as central observers for the five poll-bound states.
The West Bengal government finally woke up from slumber on Thursday and sent the list of nine IAS and eight IPS officers of its choice to the Election Commission of India (ECI) for the roles of central observers. The Bengal govt’s action came a day after the ECI named 15 IAS and 10 IPS officers from the state to act as central election observers in the five poll-bound states—West Bengal, Assam, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Puducherry.
Sources confided that the Mamata Banerjee govt has requested the ECI to include these officers in the list of central observers as replacements for the ones named by the poll panel.
This move comes a day after the list sent by the ECI named even Bengal’s Home Secretary Jagdeesh Prasad Meena and Howrah Police Commissioner Praveen Kumar Tripathy, among others, as central observers.
Bengal DGP Rajeev Kumar is learnt to have communicated to Chief Electoral Officer of the state Manoj Kumar Agarwal that Bharat Lal Meena and Rishikesh Meena, two IPS officers, are unable to join due to medical reasons.
All officers named by the EC had been asked to attend a mandatory two-day orientation programme scheduled for February 5 and 6 in New Delhi at the India International Institute of Democracy and Election Management, in the presence of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
Interestingly, West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer Manoj Agarwal dashed off a letter on January 27 warning officers of strong disciplinary action against any of them who skip the training programme in Delhi.
If sources in the ECI are to be believed, the poll body had repeatedly asked the West Bengal government to recommend names of IAS and IPS officers from the state for appointment as poll observers in other states, but the government is alleged to have sat on it.
This is not all; the Commission is said to have written at least five letters to the state secretariat, Nabanna, reminding it to send a list of officers since November, failing which the Commission sent a letter directly to Agarwal.
This is not the lone action on the part of the Commission to put the Bengal govt in a fix. Just on Tuesday, the poll body asked the state government to revoke the transfer of three IAS officers.
The Bengal govt also responded to the ECI’s directive to cancel the transfer of these three officers, saying they have been assigned less critical roles. The three officers who were transferred were Ashwini Kumar Yadav, Randhir Kumar, and Smita Pandey.
A senior official at the Bengal secretariat had remarked the Mamata government was contemplating sending a reply to the Commission protesting against this move, but what has come out eventually is quite contrary to it.
The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has approved the appointment of three Members and two Director Generals in the Railway Board. Among the five appointments, two officers holding Level 17 posts have been shifted laterally.
The ACC-approved appointments are:
Vivek Kumar Gupta (IRSE:1988) has been appointed Member (Infrastructure), Railway Board.
Manjusha Jain (IRAS:1988) has been appointed Member (Finance), Railway Board.
Aruna Nayar (IRPS:1987) has been appointed Director General (Human Resources), Railway Board.
Hitendra Malhotra (IRMS:1987) (Electrical) has been appointed Director General (Safety), Railway Board.
Hari Shankar Verma (IRMS:1987) (Traffic) has been appointed Member (Operations & Business Development), Railway Board.
The Public Enterprises Selection Board (PESB) has recommended Kota Ravi for appointment as Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). The recommendation was made after interviews conducted by the PESB on January 29, 2026.
Kota Ravi is currently serving as Director (Operations), Hindustan Aeronautics Limited. His name will now be forwarded to the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) for final approval, subject to vigilance clearance and completion of other prescribed formalities.
At present, Dr D K Sunil, Director (Engineering, Research and Development), HAL, is holding additional charge of the CMD post following the completion of the extended tenure of C B Ananthakrishnan on August 31, 2024.
Candidates interviewed by PESB for HAL CMD post:
Kota Ravi, Director (Operations), Hindustan Aeronautics Limited
P B Rangarao, Chief Executive Officer, Helicopter Complex, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited
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