Punjab sends panel of 3 IAS officers to Chandigarh admn for finance secretary’s post

All three officers — Basant Garg, Diprava Lakra and Daljit Singh Mangat — who have been sent to the Chandigarh administration for the post of finance secretary, are Punjab cadre IAS officers from the 2005 batch

The Punjab government has sent a fresh panel of three IAS officers to the UT administration for the post of finance secretary.

Meanwhile, Chandigarh administration continues to await a panel of names from the Punjab government for the post of municipal corporation commissioner. (HT Photo)

All three officers — Basant Garg, Diprava Lakra and Daljit Singh Mangat — are Punjab cadre IAS officers from the 2005 batch.

Garg is currently on deputation with the central government, with the tenure likely to end on September 10.

The finance secretary’s post had fallen vacant on June 18 after the tenure of Vijay Namdeorao Zade ended and he was relieved.

Zade, a 2002 batch Punjab cadre IAS officer, had joined the UT administration in May 2021 for a three-year tenure. In May 2024, his tenure was extended by one month in view of the Lok Sabha elections, as he was the chief electoral officer of Chandigarh.

In the last week of June, Punjab had sent a panel of three Punjab cadre IAS officers to fill the post: Amit Dhaka (2006 batch), Mohammed Tayyab (2007 batch) and Amit Kumar (2008 batch). However, the Union ministry of home affairs had rejected this panel and requested a fresh one. Following this, the UT administration had sought a fresh panel from the Punjab government.

Meanwhile, the administration continues to await a panel of names from the Punjab government for the post of municipal corporation commissioner. The post fell vacant on August 22 after the three-year deputation period of 2007-batch Punjab cadre IAS officer Anindita Mitra ended.

Former UT administrator Banwarilal Purohit had written two letters to the Punjab government to either extend the deputation tenure of Mitra or send a fresh panel for the post. However, the Punjab government did not send the no-objection certificate (NOC) for her extension. On August 23, the charge was handed over to deputy commissioner Vinay Pratap Singh until further notice.