In response to a request from the state government, the Punjab cadre IAS officer V K Singh has been repatriated to his home cadre. The 1990-batch Indian Administrative Service officer is expected to take on the role of Special Chief Secretary to Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann. The position of special chief secretary has been vacant since July this year when A Venu Prasad retired as Additional Chief Secretary to the CM.
V K Singh, who was deputed to the Centre in October 2017, held the position of Secretary in the Department of Ex-Servicemen Welfare, Ministry of Defence, Government of India. With three years of seniority over the current Chief Secretary Anurag Verma, a 1993-batch IAS officer, V K Singh brings a wealth of experience to the administrative landscape.
The Punjab government has been contending with a shortage of experienced administrative personnel. While certain IAS officers like D K Tiwari and Neelkanth Avadh await posting orders, others, such as Additional Chief Secretary K A P Sinha and Tejveer Singh, shoulder responsibilities across multiple crucial departments.
Chief Secretary Anurag Verma, who assumed office in June this year, superseded 10 IAS officers, including V K Singh. Out of these officers, four, including V K Singh, were on central deputation, and two had already served as chief secretaries. Notably, some senior officers on central deputation include Vini Mahajan (1987 batch), Anjali Bhawra (1988 batch), and Seema Jain (1991 batch).
While addressing the shortage of experienced hands in the administration, the state government has strategically placed IAS officers within Punjab, including Anirudh Tewari (1990 batch), Sarvjit Singh (1992 batch), Raji P Shrivastava (1992 batch), and K A P Sinha (1992 batch).
