The Haryana bureaucracy has been abuzz with speculation ever since the state government wrote to the Centre seeking the repatriation of four of its senior officers, V. Umashankar, Rakesh Gupta, Nitin Yadav and Vikas Gupta, currently on central deputation.
Out of the four officers, the repatriation of V Umashankar (IAS:1993:HY) and Rakesh Gupta (IAS:1997:HY) occupies special significance for the state govt, which is facing the dearth of senior IAS officers.
As per discussions doing the rounds in the state bureaucratic circles, the Haryana govt is seeking the repatriation of IAS officers to fill several key vacancies in the state administration.
The post of Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister has been lying vacant since October 1 after IAS officer Arun Kumar Gupta (IAS:1992:HY) retired from this post on September 30, and the post of Chief Secretary will be vacated by current incumbent Anurag Rastogi on December 31, 2026, after his term expires.
Going by the discussions in the corridors of power, V. Umashankar, currently serving as Secretary in the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, may be posted as the next Chief Secretary, while Rakesh Gupta, currently serving as Additional Secretary in the President’s Secretariat, may be placed as the Principal Secretary in the CMO.
Considered close to the state BJP govt, V Umashankar has earlier served as Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister under both Manohar Lal Khattar and Nayab Singh Saini as Chief Minister from 2020 to 2024.
He has held some of the most influential positions in the state administration for several years.
He was appointed as Principal Secretary in the CMO in October 2020 and also served as the chief bureaucratic strategist under both the Chief Ministers.
Further, prior to stepping into the lead role, Umashankar also served as the Additional Principal Secretary in the CMO from October 2018 to October 2020.
During his long tenure in the CMO, he was the driving administrative force behind key governance projects, most notably spearheading the rollout of Haryana’s unique Parivar Pehchan Patra (PPP) social registry system and managing public grievance delivery via the CM Window portal.
Similarly, Rakesh Gupta, who has the prior experience of serving extensively in the Haryana Chief Minister’s Office (CMO), may get an opportunity to serve the Chief Minister as his Principal Secretary.
He handled the flagship programmes of the BJP govt, including Beti Bachao Beti Padhao and the Chief Minister’s Good Governance Associates Programme. He was also Additional Principal Secretary to the CM during Khattar’s tenure from October 2014 to October 2018, spearheading several key administrative, social, and IT initiatives for the state government, like serving as the State Nodal Officer of the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao campaign, which led to improved Haryana’s sex ratio at birth.
In this way, the repatriation of these IAS officers is being seen as part of the Haryana govt’s efforts to address key administrative vacancies and ensure continuity in governance, for which the Centre’s decision on the state’s request will be crucial.
By: Dinesh Kumar
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