Haryana Government Shakes Up Bureaucracy, Rastogi Named New Home Secretary

In a significant administrative overhaul, the Haryana government on Thursday announced the transfer of 12 Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers. Concurrently, 1990-batch IAS officer Anurag Rastogi has been appointed as the new Home Secretary.

Rastogi will now serve as the Additional Chief Secretary for the Home, Jails, Criminal Investigation, and Administration of Justice departments. Notably, he will retain his roles in the Finance and Planning departments. He succeeds Chief Secretary TVSN Prasad as Home Secretary.

This top-level bureaucratic reshuffle, anticipated following the Lok Sabha elections, comes at a crucial juncture with state assembly elections slated for later this year.

The move follows a similar shake-up less than two weeks ago, which saw the transfer of 23 Indian Police Service (IPS) and 27 Haryana Police Service officers.

Key transfers among the IAS officers include:
1. Anurag Agarwal, previously Chief Electoral Officer, has been appointed as Additional Chief Secretary for the Irrigation and Water Resources department.
2. Phool Chand Meena, Managing Director of Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam, will additionally serve as Hisar Division Commissioner.
3. Geeta Bharti, Hisar Division Commissioner, will take on the role of Ambala Division Commissioner.
4. Ankur Gupta, Additional Chief Secretary for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, has been transferred to the Cooperation and Personnel departments.
5. Anand Mohan Sharan, Additional Chief Secretary for Environment, Forests, and Wildlife, will additionally oversee the Labour department.
6. Raja Sekhar Vundru will swap roles with Ankur Gupta, moving from Cooperation to Agriculture and Animal Husbandry.
7. Vineet Garg, Additional Chief Secretary for Higher Education, has been transferred to the School Education department.
8. Rajiv Rattan, Director General of Higher Education, will additionally serve as Karnal Division Commissioner.

These changes are expected to bring fresh perspectives and strategies to various departments as the state gears up for the upcoming elections.