Post bureaucratic reshuffle, Garg opts for VRS
Subhash Chandra Garg is expected to serve as power secretary till 31 October after having applied for VRSOver the past year, as finance and economic affairs secretary Garg has had differences with top central bank officials
New Delhi: Finance and economic affairs secretary Subhash Chandra Garg, 58, sought early retirement from the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) after he was transferred to the power ministry as its senior-most bureaucrat.
Garg’s transfer was part of a major bureaucratic reshuffle late on Wednesday. He was replaced by department of investment and public asset management secretary Atanu Chakraborty, a 1985 batch Gujarat cadre IAS officer.
“The VRS application was submitted late on Wednesday. The process requires a notice-serving time of three months. However, he (Garg) had requested to be relieved with immediate effect," a government official aware of the development said, requesting anonymity.
Garg is expected to serve as India’s power secretary for the next three months. Mint had first reported that Garg will take charge as power secretary on Friday at 10am.
“Handed over charge of Economic Affairs today. Learnt so much in the finance ministry and economic affairs department. Will take charge in Power Ministry tomorrow. Have also applied for Voluntary Retirement from the IAS with effect from 31st October," Garg said in a tweet on Thursday afternoon.
Garg is believed to be the architect of the budget proposal to raise $10 billion by selling sovereign bonds overseas for the first time, a move that has faced severe criticism from several experts, including former Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Raghuram Rajan.
Garg was also at loggerheads with other members of the Bimal Jalan committee, set up to decide RBI’s economic capital framework, and had submitted a dissent note to the panel.
Over the past year, Garg had differences with top central bank officials, including former governor Urjit Patel and his deputy Viral Acharya over the central bank’s autonomy.
A second person familiar with the development said Garg held a farewell meeting on Thursday, where he told colleagues in the finance ministry about his plan to opt for voluntary retirement from the IAS.
Garg took over as department of economic affairs secretary in 2017 and became the finance secretary in March this year.
In the first major bureaucratic reshuffle since Prime Minister Narendra Modi came back to power in May, the Centre on Wednesday changed the secretaries of 12 government departments.
Garg will take over responsibilities at the critical infrastructure ministry amid a crisis faced by distribution companies due to their poor financial health, leading to delays in payments to power generation utilities.
The power sector is reeling under bad loans worth about ₹1 trillion, with around 66 gigawatts facing various degrees of financial stress.
Power secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla has been made the officer on special duty in the home ministry with immediate effect. He will take over from Rajiv Gauba as the home secretary, when he retires on 31 August. Bhalla will have a fixed two-year tenure as home secretary.
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