A case of piling vacancies

The secretaries of three prominent ministries — agriculture, coal and food — would be retiring at the end of this month. P K Basu of the Department of Agriculture and Cooperation would see his term end in May, along with Alok Perti of the coal ministry. Food and public distribution department’s Bhushan Chandra Gupta would also turn 60, the age for retirement, in May. As it is, the post of commerce secretary is yet to be filled after Rahul Khullar was appointed chairman of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India. With the buzz of policy paralysis afflicting the government, all eyes are now riveted on these upcoming vacancies; as to who will fill in these posts and give the economy the much-needed push.