Anshu Prakash appointed Delhi chief secretary

According to officials, the Delhi government was not consulted by the Centre before clearing Prakash’s appointment.

Senior bureaucrat Anshu Prakash was appointed Delhi’s new chief secretary on Friday.

Delhi’s deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia on Wednesday had said that he was hopeful that Centre would follow the tradition of seeking names from the elected government for appointment of the chief secretary. (Sonu Mehta/HT PHOTO)

Prakash was earlier additional secretary and financial advisor in the rural development ministry. A 1986 batch IAS officer of Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Mizoram and Union Territories (AGMUT) cadre, Prakash has been “prematurely repatriated” to his parent cadre from the ministry.

Prakash told Hindustan Times that he did not want to comment on his appointment and would like to interact with the media only after assuming charge next week.

Before moving to the Centre, Prakash had held several important responsibilities in the Delhi government. He was the principal secretary (health) and the Chairman-cum-Managing Director (CMD) of Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) in the Sheila Dikshit government. He has also been MCD’s additional commissioner (engineering), secretary of New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) and also the registrar of cooperative societies.

“The competent authority in the ministry of home affairs has approved the appointment of Anshu Prakash as chief secretary of NCT Delhi,” the Union home ministry said in an order issued on Friday.

Prakash had also served as additional secretary in union ministry of health and family welfare.

Prakash’s predecessor, MM Kutty, was on Tuesday transferred to the union finance ministry as an additional secretary. Kutty, a 1985-batch IAS officer, was made Delhi’s chief secretary in November last year.

According to officials, the Delhi government was not consulted by the Centre before clearing Prakash’s appointment.

“This is not the first time when our opinion was not sought on such a matter. We were not consulted when MM Kutty was made the chief secretary. We will wait for the Supreme Court judgement on the matter of services and then react,” a Delhi government spokesperson said.

Delhi’s deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia on Wednesday had said that he was hopeful that Centre would follow the tradition of seeking names from the elected government for appointment of the chief secretary.

In May 2015, the then lieutenant governor Najeeb Jung had appointed senior bureaucrat Shakuntala Gamlin as acting chief secretary after KK Sharma went on leave. Gamlin’s appointment was strongly opposed by the AAP government and chief minister Arvind Kejriwal had described it as “unconstitutional”.