Three years after requesting a cadre change, whistleblower Indian Forest Service officer Sanjiv Chaturvedi’s wish has finally been granted. The Appointments Committee of Cabinet has cleared his transfer to Uttarakhand cadre from Haryana. Could it be that the BJP government had a change of heart after Mr Chaturvedi won the prestigious Magsaysay Award?
It’s no secret that the 2002-batch IFoS officer, currently deputy secretary at the AIIMS, has been fighting the establishment, claiming harassment for exposing irregularities, earlier in Haryana, and later when he was moved to Delhi as Chief Vigilance Officer at AIIMS. Observers also noted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, usually very active on Twitter and other social media platforms, maintained a studied silence when Mr Chaturvedi won the award.
Observers hope that the long-delayed transfer to Uttarakhand would end the babu’s running battle with the Centre. It may be recalled that Union Health Minister J.P. Nadda had removed him as CVO, AIIMS after Mr Chaturvedi allegedly exposed wrongdoings in the institute. The PMO was reportedly also irked by Mr Chaturvedi using the RTI route to access internal communications regarding the corruption cases raised by him and for approaching the CIC against the PMO. Will he go quietly now?
Getting his ‘due’
Inheriting a “scorched earth” is not a joy. That’s what’s been left behind after the Government peremptorily retired the men at the helm of the National Thermal Power Corporation and Steel Authority of India Limited recently. But then you can’t be too picky either. After all, Ajit Seth had to wait a bit long after the end of his extended tenure in June, to get his next “plum” position. Mr Seth has now been appointed chief of the Public Enterprises Selection Board (PESB) for a period of three years. He replaces Atul Chaturvedi whose tenure got over and he must be happy, even with the scorched earth, he gets.
As the top babu of the nation, among his various responsibilities, Mr Seth handled senior appointments. As chairman of PESB, he will be doing more of the same. Instead of senior secretaries, he’ll be entrusted with the selection and placement of the posts of chairman and managing director (CMD) in central public sector enterprises. At least 18 of the nation’s top public sector corporations are headless. So Mr Seth has his work cut out.
