Cabinet Secretary KM Chandrashekhar today got a year’s extension, which means he will be in saddle till June 2010. Current Labour Secretary Sudha Pillai, who would have succeeded him, has been knocked out of the race, as is Commerce Secretary Gopal Pillai. Both will retire before June next year.
Chandrashekhar’s appointment is a major victory for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who had personally sought to retain him. There was some initial hesitation because of the possibility of the appointment of India’s first women Cabinet secretary. However, that appointment will have to wait.
Chandrashekhar’s extension is in line with the PM’s general message that continuity will be the hallmark of his second term. No major changes are expected in the Prime Minister’s Office either where officers expect to hear this week, whether they are staying or going.
Among the other appointments likely to be announced are replacements of outgoing governors. Eleven gubernatorial posts are to fall vacant, including Nawal Kishore Sharma (Gujarat), SS Sidhu (Goa), Balram Jhakhar (Madhya Pradesh), SS Barnala (Tamil Nadu), Gopal Krishna Gandhi (West Bengal), DN Sahay (Tripura), SF Rodrigues (Punjab), RL Bhatia (Bihar) and RS Gavai (Kerala).
A big reshuffle of members in the Planning Commission is also on the cards. Many of the current members were appointed on the advice of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) when that party was supporting the previous United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government. Some of those appointees are to be replaced.
