Karnataka: Cabinet tells CM to choose new Chief Secretary

Bengaluru: With the state Cabinet empowering Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to take a call on the new chief secretary in place of Mr Koushik Mukherjee, who will be retiring on December 31, the choice has narrowed down to the top two contenders - Home Secretary Mr S.K. Pattanayak and Industries Secretary Ms K. Ratnaprabha, both Additional Chief Secretaries.

However, the protocol of seniority would be broken again as three senior Additional Chief Secretaries - Mr Anup Poojari, Mr Subhas Kuntia and Mr Aravind Jadhav, who are on central deputation are not too keen on returning to the state.

The Chief Secretary would be selected by a high level committee chaired by the Chief Minister, on the recommendation of the Cabinet. Since the Cabinet has empowered the Chief Minister himself, he would be choosing one of the two Additional Chief Secretaries. Though there is pressure from the Lingayat community to appoint Mr V Umesh as Chief Secretary as he hails from the state, the government is not keen on his appointment.

Sources said that Mr Anup Poojari had not shown interest in returning to the state. Though there was pressure from a section of bureaucrats to bring in Mr Jadhav, Mr Siddaramaiah was not too keen in offering him the post. Meanwhile, the CM is reportedly interested in bringing back Mr Subhas Chandra Kuntia, a 1981 IAS officer. Since 2012, he is on central deputation and presently working with the HRD ministry on its School Education and Literacy programme. But, he also has declined the offer like Mr Poojari, said sources adding that this leaves the chief minister with little option but to choose between Mr Pattanayak and Ms Ratnaprabha.

Some Congress leaders felt that making Mr Umesh Chief Secretary would win over the Lingayat community.

But, Mr Siddaramaiah pointed to an earlier instance, where the then Chief Minister Mr S.M. Krishna had appointed Mr B.S. Patil, a Lingayat, as Chief Secretary, bypassing the seniority of Mr M.B. Prakash. Mr Prakash had taken voluntary retirement. Despite this, the Congress could not get any support from the Lingayat community and faced a humiliating defeat in North Karnataka in the next election.

While both Ms Ratnaprabha and Mr Umesh are 1981 batch IAS officers, Mr Pattanayak belongs to the 1982 batch. Mr Umesh will be retiring in May 2016 and Ms Ratnaprabha in March 2018. Mr Pattanayak would be retiring in September 2018.

The main argument of those lobbying for Mr Umesh is that there are no Karnataka IAS officers eligible to become Chief Secretary in the near future. Even after his retirement, the two officers will continue to be in service and they would get a chance to secure the post. However, the government is not buying any of these arguments, sources added.
 

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