Punjab has appointed Vini Mahajan, a 1987-batch IAS officer, as the new chief secretary of Punjab on Friday. Prior to the new appointment, Mahajan, who has become the first woman chief secretary of the state, was serving as the additional chief secretary of investment promotion, industries and commerce, information technology, and governance reforms and public grievances.
She replaces 1984-batch IAS officer Karan Avtar Singh, who recently had a face-off with Punjab ministers. Singh, who is due to retire on August 31, has now been posted as special chief secretary, governance reforms and public grievances.
Singh had courted a controversy last month after he had a run-in with ministers at an excise policy meeting. He was accused of allegedly misbehaving and humiliating the legislators following which the entire cabinet, led by finance minister Manpreet Singh Badal, boycotted him and demanded his immediate removal. Though the matter was settled after Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh himself intervened to call a truce between the bureaucracy and ministers, the state government was looking for his replacement ever since.
The new chief secretary is the wife of Punjab DGP, Dinkar Gupta, also a 1987-batch IPS officer. This is for the first time that a couple is leading the administrative and law enforcement in the state.
DGP Gupta was empanelled to hold director general-level post in the Central government by the appointments committee of the Punjab cabinet last month. Soon after, speculations were rife about Mahajan's elevation to the senior-most bureaucratic position in the state. Highly placed sources claim that though Gupta does not need to venture out of Punjab, Amarinder Singh suggested the empanelment in a bid to avoid controversies regarding delegation of power to one couple.
