Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Chief Secretary Iqbal Singh Bains is going to retire on November 30 in the midst of elections in the state.
Bains was to retire on November 30 last year, but because he has been given extension twice, he is retiring by month-end.
Because Bains is retiring in the midst of elections, the state government does not have many options to appoint a new chief secretary.
The Model Code of Conduct being in force, the government is helpless, since it has to appoint the senior-most IAS officer to the post of CS.
The government is also mulling over to give the charge of CS to a senior officer. So the stage is set to give the charge of CS to additional chief secretary (ACS) Veera Rana, a 1988-batch IAS officer.
She will retire after four months. The government may wait till December 3 after giving charge to her. A full-time CS may be appointed after the new government is formed.
Who is going to be the new CS depends on the formation of the new government.
After Rana, the names of ACSs Mohd Suleman,JN Kansotia, Rajesh Rajora, SN Mishra and Malay Shrivastava are doing the rounds for the post.
If the BJP forms the government, a 1989-batch IAS officer Anurag Jain may return to the state.
On the other hand if the Congress forms the government, Shrivastava may be the next CS.
Nevertheless, if that happens, the government has to supersede seven officers to make Shrivastava the next CS.
If the BJP returns to power, the name of the new chief secretary will be decided only after the party leadership announces the chief minister’s name.
According to sources, if Shivraj Singh remains the chief minister, Rana may continue as CS till March.
Against this backdrop, the name of the head of state bureaucracy will be decided after the election results are out.
