The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved the extension of the tenures of two Union Ministers: Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal and Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani.
On Tuesday, the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) issued two different instructions to that effect. According to the ruling, Piyush Goyal's OSD Anuj Gupta's tenure would be terminated on March 7, 2023, and Irani's OSD Shah Devanshi Viren's tenure would be terminated on January 31, 2023.
Congress leader Supriya Shrinate raises questions
Reacting to this news, Congress leader, Supriya Shrinate raised questions on the termination of the contracts of 2 OSD's. She asked why the OSDs, Smirti Irani and Piyush Goyal, were sacked; why were they the fall guys? She posted her questions on the social media platform Twitter. "Why have OSDs of Smt Smriti Irani and Shri Piyush Goyal been sacked? What wrong did they do? Could they possibly be the fall guys? Why must we not know the truth? Will the ministers speak up?"
OSD's reply to Shrinate's tweet
However, replying to Shrinate's tweet, a Twitter handle allegedly belonging to OSD Devanshi Shah made a tweet clarifying that she was not sacked and had chosen to resign from her job. She also asked Shrinate to not mar her future publicly.
"I chose to resign due to family obligations to look after the elderly, and I was not sacked. It has been an honour to work with @smritiirani Ma’am & serve my country. I’d request you not to publicly mar my future as a professional just to settle scores with Min Irani." She replied to the tweet.
Reason for termination of OSD's
There has been no explanation given for the reduction in the duration of both ministers' OSDs. Gupta has been an OSD with Goyal since February 1, 2016, when the latter was the minister of state for power. He was appointed for a five-year term on a co-terminus basis with the minister. When the NDA regained power in 2019, he was reassigned as an OSD on Goyal's staff with effect from May 31, 2019, for the remaining five years, up to January 31, 2021. However, Gupta was granted an extension in March 2021 by easing the maximum five-year limit.
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