RD Dhiman replaces Ram Subagh as HP chief secretary

Ram Dass Dhiman, a 1988-batch officer, has superseded three IAS officers, including Subagh’s wife Nisha Singh, Ali Raza Rizvi and Sanjay Gupta

Himachal Pradesh chief minister Jai Ram Thakur on Thursday removed chief secretary Ram Subagh Singh and replaced him with Ram Dass Dhiman, a 1988-batch IAS officer.

Ram Dass Dhiman, a 1988-batch IAS officer, has replaced Ram Subagh Singh to become the new HP chief secretary. (HT Photo)

Dhiman has superseded three IAS officers, including Subagh’s wife Nisha Singh, Ali Raza Rizvi and Sanjay Gupta. Subagh was appointed chief secretary in August last year in place of 1986-batch IAS officer Anil Khachi, who was then given the charge of the state election commissioner.

Jai Ram reportedly did not share comfortable relations with top bureaucrats. Vidya Chander Pharkha was the chief secretary during the Virbhadra Singh regime and was appointed as adviser after Jai Ram took over the reins of the state. Jai Ram replaced Pharkha with Vineet Chawdhary as his new chief secretary, who superannuated nine months later. Brij Kumar Aggarwal succeeded him and retained the post for almost one year.

Shrikant Baldi, the current chairperson of RERA, succeeded Aggarwal on September 2, 2019, and remained in the office till December 31, 2020.

Khachi succeeded Baldi, but was removed eight months later. Subagh had taken over the baton from Khachi.

Ram Subagh Singh has now been given the charge of principal adviser (administrative reforms), while Nisha Singh, additional chief secretary (rural development), has been appointed as the principal adviser (training) and Sanjay Gupta, additional chief secretary (social justice), is the principal adviser (redressal of public grievances).