Dinesh Bhardwaj
Chandigarh, 1 September
Rajesh Khullar, a senior IAS of 1988 batch in Haryana, has once again entered the CMO (Chief Minister’s Office). He has appointed the new Chief Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar. He will replace senior retired IAS officer DS Dhesi of 1982 batch. The government has relieved Dhesi from the post of Chief Principal Secretary. Khullar retired from IAS services on Thursday itself.
He has also been the Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister earlier. Khullar is very close to Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar. It was only on the request of the Chief Minister that the Center had given approval to call Khullar to Haryana ahead of time from the post of Executive Director of the World Bank. Khullar became the Executive Director of the World Bank in Washington DC in October 2020. He was representing India, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Sri Lanka in the World Bank. Now with Khullar’s entry as CMO, it has become the basis for major changes in the bureaucracy of the state.
After returning from the World Bank, the government appointed Khullar as Additional Chief Secretary of FCR and Revenue and Disaster Management Department. Khullar also had the responsibility of Additional Chief Secretary of School Education Department and Information and Public Relations Department. DS Dhesi, a 1982 batch IAS, retired from the post of Chief Secretary of Haryana on June 30, 2020. On August 16, 2020, the government appointed him as the Chairman of Haryana State Electricity Regulatory Commission (HERC).
Khullar’s first entry as CMO in the BJP government was in November 2015. Khattar Part-. In the beginning, Sanjeev Kaushal was the Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister. In November 2015, Rajesh Khullar was appointed Principal Secretary to the CM in place of Kaushal. He remained in this post for about five years. Due to Khullar’s selection in the World Bank in September-2020, he left the post of Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister. In such a situation, the government created a new post in the CMO in his place.
DS Dhesi was made to resign from the post of Chairman of HERC and he was appointed Chief Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister on the new post. Dhesi held this post for about three years. Now the government has relieved him and appointed Khullar as the new Chief Principal Secretary in his place. Khullar is the second IAS officer to be appointed to such a senior position in CMO after retirement. In 2020, Haryana had started giving the post of key role in CMO to retired officers on the lines of Captain Amarinder government of Punjab at that time.
CM’s favorite officer
Rajesh Khullar is counted among the favorite officers of Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar. Khullar, originally from Chandigarh, has done MSc in Physics from Panjab University. He also holds a Masters degree in Public Administration from GRIPS, Tokyo. With the entry of Khullar, who has good knowledge of Hindi, English and Punjabi as well as Sanskrit, it has been decided that he will set up his own team.
Major changes fixed in bureaucracy
With Khullar’s once again powerful entry as CMO, it has been decided that there will be major changes in the state bureaucracy. Khullar has since retired from the second highest post in the bureaucracy – FCR. In such a situation, this FCR has to be appointed in the state. According to seniority, the name of Home Secretary TVSN Prasad is at the top for FCR. Generally, the government does not break the seniority while appointing IAS on such posts. Now it will be interesting to see what kind of changes take place in the bureaucracy after Khullar’s arrival as CMO. It is a common perception about Khullar that he disposes of government files very quickly. There is never any file pending in his office. Government ministers and MLAs are also happy with the appointment of Rajesh Khullar. This is because Khullar has been taking most of the decisions as per his discretion. They approach the Chief Minister only with those matters which are mandatory to be discussed with the CM. The advantage of this is that the files do not hang unnecessarily.
