New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister’s office is faced with huge staff crunchas the MHA shifted Sukesh Jain, the OSD to chief Minister, back to his service – Indian Revenue Service. Jain had come to fill the void created by the absence of former Principal Secretary to CM, Rajendra Kumar. The problem has arisen as several IAS officers in the past months have declined to join the office of Delhi CM.
Significantly, the special secretary to CM Dipak Virmani will also proceed on study leave from July as he would join Teri (The Energy Research Institute) for research work. Thus the position of special secretary in CMO will also fall vacant early next month.Additional Secretary to CM Gitika Sharma has been transferred to Andman and she may be relieved of her present responsibility in the coming weeks.
After Rajendra Kumar was suspended and left CMO last year, the Chief Minister’s office contacted then VAT Commissioner SS Yadav to join as secretary to CM. Yadav cited health grounds and declined to be part of the staff of Arwind Kejriwal. Soon after, he went on study leave.
Many other IAS officers, who were contacted by the CMO, also declined to join. Finally, Vigilance Secretary Sukesh Jain, confidante of Kejriwal, was brought as OSD and he managed the affairs for the past one year. The MHA’s decision has given a jolt to Delhi CM as he is not able to find any officer to take up the major responsibility.
It is significant to mention here that during the tenure of Sukesh Jain holding the additional charge of Secretary (Vigilance) a Feed Back unit was created in this department. Around 20-odd officers from para military forces were recruited to gather intelligence on political rivals and top bureaucrats who were not trusted by Kejriwal. This Feed Back team got several SUVs to roam around the Capital. This illegal intelligence network was identified by the Shunglu Committee and this act was lacerated by former LG Najeeb Jung. Chief Secretary Dr M M Kutty dissolved this unit in April.
In yet another development, 1988 batch IAS officer Renu Sharma has taken the charge of Principal Secretary (Urban Development). Prior to this, she was secretary to former chief minister Sheila Dikshit. She was considered close to Dikshit and enjoyed immense clout in the corridor of power.