New Delhi: Two important posts of the Cabinet Secretary and the Defence Secretary will have to be filled by the new government soon after the election. The topmost post in the bureaucracy is that of the cabinet secretary at the Centre. Present Cabinet Secretary P K Sinha is due for retirement on June 12 after two years of extension given by the Modi government.
Defence Minister Sanjay Mitra is set to retire on May 31 but a word has gone around the power corridors that the Modi government may give him an extension as he holds the key post in the matter of the controversial Rafale deal. Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba, a Jharkhand IAS officer, is the front runner. He is already on the extended term as he got two additional years as the home secretary.
Another strong contender is Telecom Secretary Aruna Sundararajan due for retirement the next month. She is from the 1982 batch and will become the first woman to hold the post if appointed. If Defence Secy Mitra doesn’t get the extension on a non-BJP govt coming to power, Defence Production Secretary Dr Ajay Kumar is the front runner for the post.
