NEW DELHI, Aug 31:
Union Home Secretary LC Goyal was today replaced after only seven months in office following reported differences with the Government and another senior IAS officer Rajiv Mehrishi was appointed in his place on the day of his superannuation.
A sudden announcement said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had approved the appointment of Mehrishi, Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, who was due to retire hours later, as Home Secretary for a period of two years.
A statement by the PMO also said that the Prime Minister had also approved the request of Goyal, a 1979-batch IAS officer, whose two-year tenure was till February, 2017, seeking voluntary retirement “due to personal reasons with immediate effect”.
Later in the day, these decisions were attributed to the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC), which consists of the Prime Minister and Home Minister Rajnath Singh.
In the evening, another official announcement said that Modi had approved the appointment of Goyal as Chairman and Managing Director of India Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO).
Amid reports that Goyal had differences with the Government on certain key issues including the recent Naga accord, the officer maintained that he was not upset with the Government and that his decision to take voluntary retirement was personal.
“It was my own decision,” Goyal said, adding that any other reason being mentioned was “factually incorrect”.
However, the change of the Home Secretary comes against the backdrop of controversies involving the Home Ministry with regard to denial of security clearance to SUN TV owned by the Maran group, issues related to an NGO headed by activist Teesta Setalvad and the Naga accord.
Goyal had taken over as Home Secretary nearly seven months ago on February 5 when the then incumbent Anil Goswami was virtually sacked after he allegedly tried to prevent CBI from arresting former Union Minister Matang Sinh in connection with Saradha chit fund scam case.
This is the third exit of a top bureaucrat much before the end of tenure. Apart from Goswami, Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh was eased out of her office in January, six months before the completion of her two-year fixed tenure.
The post of Union Home Secretary has a fixed tenure of two years.
Meanwhile, senior IAS officer Sunil Arora today assumed charge as Secretary in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
Prior to his appointment, Arora was Secretary, Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Government of India.
A statement released here said that Arora has earlier served in various capacities at both the Centre and State.
At the Centre, he has worked in Ministries and Departments such as Finance, Textiles and Planning Commission. He also served as Joint Secretary in Ministry of Civil Aviation during 1999-2002 and CMD, Indian Airlines for five years (two years as additional charge and three years as full charge), the statement added.
In Rajasthan, besides district postings in Dholpur, Alwar, Nagaur and Jodhpur, he was Secretary to the Chief Minister during 1993-1998 and Principal Secretary to CM (2005- 2008) and handled Information and Public Relations (IPR), Industries and Investment Departments.
Officials said that during his stint at the helm in Indian Airlines, Arora, a post graduate in English, had steadily turned around the Airline which bounced back from losses to profits.
Meanwhile, ahead of beginning of work on the Budget for 2016-17, Government today designated Ratan P Watal as new Finance Secretary even as a new team of officials took charge at the finance Ministry.
Shaktikanta Das, 58, took charge as the Secretary for Department of Economic Affairs after Rajiv Mehrishi on his last day in office was appointed Home Secretary for a two-year tenure.
Das, who was Revenue Secretary, held discussions at length with his successor Hasmukh Adhia.
“Yes, they have taken charge,” a ministry official said when asked if Das and Adhia have taken charge.
Adhia, who headed the Department of Financial Services, passed on the baton to Anjuly Chib Duggal.
A Government statement said, “the Prime Minister has approved the designation of R P Watal, the senior-most Secretary in the Ministry of Finance, as Finance Secretary”.
Traditionally, the seniormost bureaucrat in the Finance Ministry is named Finance Secretary.
Watal, 59, is a 1978-batch Andhra Pradesh cadre IAS officer while Das belongs to 1980 batch from Tamil Nadu cadre. (PTI)
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