Senior IAS officer Vandana Dadel (IAS:1996:JH) has been made the new Home Secretary of Jharkhand. The Election Commission of India has approved Dadel’s name as the new Home Secretary. Before this, Arava Rajkamal (IAS:2008:JH) was relieved from the charge of Home Secretary by the Election Commission.
Arava Rajkamal, Secretary to the Chief Minister, was given the additional charge of Home, Prisons, and Disaster Management Department on March 5. However, he was subsequently removed from the position of Home Secretary by the Election Commission on March 18. Therefore, he remained as the Home Secretary of the state for only 13 days.
The Election Commission had sought three names from the State Government, after which the Jharkhand Government sent three names: Vandana Dadel (IAS:1996:JH), Manish Ranjan (IAS:2002:JH), and Aboobacker Siddique P (IAS:2003:JH). Ultimately, Dadel was chosen as the new Home Secretary.
This decision follows the Election Commission’s directive on Monday, which instructed six states to remove home secretaries who held additional responsibilities in their respective chief minister’s offices. This action was taken to prevent potential conflicts of interest, particularly in light of the model code of conduct for the Lok Sabha elections now in effect.
