The Haryana government finds itself staring at an inexplicable bureaucratic vacuum at the top, with Chief Secretary Anurag Rastogi being confined to bed following bypass heart surgery last Friday and the government not being able to assign the additional charge of Chief Secretary to anyone. The state is thus witnessing an administrative crisis with a headless bureaucracy at a critical time, as Rastogi also holds the additional charge of Finance Secretary and the state is gearing itself for budget presentation.
This situation is strikingly different from what unfolded in 2024. While IAS Vivek Joshi was tipped to take over as the Chief Secretary after the retirement of TVSN Prasad on October 31, 2024, from that post. As Joshi was on central deputation and could join the new posting after three days, the post was not kept vacant from November 1st to 3rd. As a result, Anurag Rastogi, who was then serving as Additional Chief Secretary of the Finance and Home Departments, was given its additional charge.
But in the present scenario almost a week is going to lapse since Rastogi was hospitalized, but no alternate arrangement has been made.
What is complicating the situation for the state is the fact that the annual budget is also scheduled to be presented in the state assembly in February-March.
To further confound the crisis, Rastogi, who holds the additional charge of Finance Secretary, is lying on the hospital bed, and the post of Finance Commissioner has been lying vacant for 11 months now. As a result, Home Secretary Sumita Mishra is acting solely as a link officer.
In such a situation, the government can appoint a senior IAS officer to the post of Finance Secretary instead of making do with a link officer. The link officer of the Finance Secretary is virtually the Administrative Secretary of the Excise and Taxation Department. Currently, IAS officer Ashima Barar (IAS: 2004:HY) can handle the work as the link officer of the Finance Secretary. Besides, a Commissioner and Secretary-2 is also posted in the Finance Department, while senior IAS officer Mohammad Shain (IAS:2002:HY), who is also senior to Barar, is posted as the Commissioner and Secretary-1.
There are several precedents when a senior IAS officer was given additional charge of the Chief Secretary to maintain continuity in governance when such a situation arose.
On March 15, 2024, when the then Chief Secretary Sanjeev Kaushal went on leave, four and a half months before his retirement, the then Finance Commissioner TVSN Prasad was given the additional charge of the CS. It was again replicated in Nov, 2024, when Rastogi was given additional charge of the Chief Secretary after Prasad’s retirement.
So, under the prevailing circumstances, the Haryana govt must look for an alternative arrangement to get bailed out of the situation. Sources suggest that the govt is aiming to have a good alternative without much bureaucratic shuffle. Particularly so as Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini himself is the minister in charge of the finance department.
Government sources say that the govt tried to assess the probabilities of three officers of the 1990 batch IAS—Dr. Sumita Misra Singh, Sudhir Rajpal, and R S Vundru. Misra is due to attain superannuation in Jan 2027 and is said to be the strongest candidate, as she is FCR as well as in charge of the home department, which is held by CM Saini. Since FCR is also a link officer of CS, she could be the govt’s pick for the CS post.
Sudhir Rajpal could be another choice considering his seniority, but Rajpal is due to attain superannuation in Nov this year itself. Vundru is the third probable, but the govt could consider him for departments like home and finance in case Misra is either appointed or asked to officiate as chief secretary during the medical leave of Anurag Rastogi.
It should be mentioned here that Rastogi had virtually retired last year but was given a one-year extension and is now due to retire on June 30 this year.
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