PM limits tenure to 5 years for secretaries to ministers
June 15, 2017  13:58
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We listened in to conversation in the corridors of power in Delhi and everyone is talking about the changes in the personal staff of union ministers.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is unwavering that the request of his senior colleagues to extend the tenure of their private secretaries is rejected. The prime minister is absolutely clear that a private secretary's tenure should end by five years.

Senior union ministers like Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Textiles Minister Smriti Irani and IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, among a host of others, have held on to their PAs for over five  years. The PAs and private secretaries -- generally IAS, IPS, IRS officers -- have to now be transferred to other departments. 

Take the case of Simanchal Dash, an IRS officer, who has been with the finance minister for more than five  years and consequently, a confidante.

Similarly, Rajnath Singh also has an officer from the IPS for over five years. Early this week, following the strict instructions of the PMO, Jaitley got a new private secretary, Saurav Sukhla, who is an Indian Audit and Accounts Service official, to replace Dash. So, where is Dash headed? A special post of Officer on Special Duty (OSD) has been created in the Central Board of Direct Taxes to coordinate the sensitive issues of CBDT. Smriti Irani, too, is likely to get a new private secretary by the end of this month.

So, why is is this reshuffle being done? Sources tell us that the prime minister doesn't really trust his own ministers. But more on that later.
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