Punjab CM keen to retain Cheema despite PM's rejection

Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal, who has kept West Bengal-cadre IAS officer KJS Cheema as his special principal secretary for the past five years on "inter-cadre deputation" without the Centre's nod, is eager to retain him for some more time, it has been learnt.

But the chances appear bleak, as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh himself had turned down the 1993-batch IAS officer's inter-cadre deputation in 2008 and advised him to return to his parent cadre state of West Bengal without further loss of time, according to documents accessed by Hindustan Times.

Cheema had joined the Punjab government on March 6, 2007, without the Centre's mandatory approval. Under Rule 6(1) of the IAS (Cadre) Rules, 1954, an IAS officer can go on inter-cadre deputation only with the central government's approval.

(For further details please read tomorrow's Hindustan Times)