Crucial government departments still have no full-time head

State finance department, which is typically held by one of the senior-most IAS officers of the rank of additional chief secretary (ACS) or principal secretary, has been vacant for more than five months after UPS Madan was elevated to chief secretary of Maharashtra.

In an unusual trend, around a dozen bureaucrats have been tasked with holding additional charge of key departments including home, finance, industry, public health, and general administration. With the state government deciding to reshuffle Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers only after the Assembly polls, this situation is likely to continue for at least two more months.

According to officials from Mantralaya, sensitive departments like home and finance are never kept headless for such long periods. (HT FILE)

State finance department, which is typically held by one of the senior-most IAS officers of the rank of additional chief secretary (ACS) or principal secretary, has been vacant for more than five months after UPS Madan was elevated to chief secretary of Maharashtra. The additional charge has since been allotted to Rajiv Jalota, goods and services tax commissioner, who has proceeded on training leave, giving his charge to Manoj Saunik, additional chief secretary, public works department.

Similarly, the post of additional chief secretary of the home department has been vacant for the past eight months after Sunil Porwal retired. Additional chief secretary of housing Sanjay Kumar holds the additional charge.

According to officials from Mantralaya, sensitive departments like home and finance are never kept headless for such long periods. Shivaji Daund, who was heading the general administrative department (GAD) — which was in the process of recruiting 35,000 posts and fighting the Maratha reservation case in the Supreme Court — had last month been posted as Konkan divisional commissioner with the additional charge of GAD.

“Generally, during crucial events like elections, the post of the head of the home department, which is always occupied by the rank of an ACS as per the court order, is never kept vacant. Likewise, the finance department was never kept vacant for more than a few weeks,” said a senior bureaucrat.

“Being given additional charges is not a new practice, but is not generally experienced in key departments,” said a senior IAS officer. “With the charge of multiple departments, IAS officers cannot give justice to all of them,” he added.

Finance minister Sudhir Mungantiwar admitted that the additional charge in key departments is not an ideal situation. “It affects the efficiency of the department. I have spoken to the chief minister on the subject,” he said.