E-Paper
Two months on, MHA is yet to name Chandigarh adviser
As per sources, among those in the race of the post are Arunachal Pradesh chief secretary Dharmendra and principal secretary Dr Sharad Chauhan, both AGMUT-cadre officers from 1989 and 1994 batches, respectively
It’s been over two months since former UT adviser Dharam Pal retired on October 31, 2023. But the Union ministry of home affairs (MHA) has yet to name his successor.
In the interim, UT home secretary Nitin Yadav is holding additional charge of the adviser’s post.
Dharam Pal, a 1988-batch IAS officer of the AGMUT cadre and an alumnus of Punjab Engineering College, had joined the UT administration amid the Covid pandemic in June 2021, taking over from Manoj Parida, a 1986-batch officer from the same cadre.
In the days before his retirement, MHA was expected to finalise the next adviser in the first week of November. But it has yet to decide on a name even two months later.
As per sources, among those in the race of the post are Arunachal Pradesh chief secretary Dharmendra and principal secretary Dr Sharad Chauhan, both AGMUT-cadre officers from 1989 and 1994 batches, respectively.
Others vying for the post are Goa chief secretary Dr Puneet Kumar Goel, a 1991-batch AGMUT-cadre officer, and New Delhi municipal corporation chairperson Amit Yadav, also from the same batch.
In December, local member of Parliament Kirron Kher had also written to Union home minister Amit Shah over paucity of officers in the Chandigarh administration, highlighting the vacant posts of UT adviser and Chandigarh Housing Board chairman. She had written that smooth administration cannot be run by assigning additional charge to senior-level officers, as they remain over burdened and were unable to discharge their duties efficiently.
