JOIN USTop IAS officer Mayaram shunted twice in a fortnight
Top IAS officer Arvind Mayaram, who was shunted out as Finance Secretary and posted in Tourism Ministry, has been transferred for the second time in a fortnight as the Narendra Modi government continued with its reshuffle of top bureaucracy.
Even before the officer took charge of the new post, it has been decided to shift him to the Minority Affairs Ministry as its Secretary. The decision to transfer Mayaram, a 1978-batch IAS officer of Rajasthan cadre, to Tourism Ministry taken on October 16 was cancelled by the Appointments Committee of Cabinet (ACC) led by the Prime Minister on Wednesday.
The BJP-led government’s aversion to Mayaram, who is considered close to the previous Congress regime, is also seen in the decision to give Expenditure Secretary Ratan P Watal additional charge of Economic Affairs Department as the replacement, Rajiv Mehrishi, currently Rajasthan Chief Secretary, is yet to take charge.
Watal will hold additional charge for a period of one month with immediate effect or until the assumption of charge by Mehrishi or until further orders, whichever is earlier, the order issued by Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) said.
In usual circumstances, a transferred officer will continue in the assignment until the new appointee takes charge.
While cancelling Mayaram’s transfer to Tourism Ministry, the ACC decided to shift Minority Affairs Secretary Dr Lalit K Panwar, a Rajasthan IAS officer of 1979 batch, to Tourism Ministry where its incumbent Parvez Dewan is super-annuating on Friday."
Incidentally, Mayaram and Mehrishi are batchmates while Panwar is a year junior to them in Rajasthan cadre. Mayaram’s transfer from Finance Ministry came just when the budget exercise had started and it was read as government’s move to have its own people in key places.
Mayaram was the senior-most among the four Secretaries in the Ministry of Finance with dual roles as finance and economic affairs secretary. He was appointed by the previous government and will retire on October 31 next year.
Mayaram was brought into Finance Ministry by former Finance Minister P Chidambaram in 2012.
However, he is the second senior official to be shifted from Finance Ministry. Earlier, Rajiv Takru, who was Financial Services Secretary, was transferred to Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region and later to National Minorities Commission.