Dilli Ka Babu: A quiet succession

The appointment of Lalit Kumar Gupta as the new chief secretary of Tripura has set to rest keen speculation among the babus after the erstwhile chief secretary Sanjeev Ranjan was transferred out as chairman of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI). Mr Gupta previously served as principal secretary to former CM Manik Sarkar. Before his elevation, he was additional chief secretary for rural development and finance.

A 1987-batch IAS officer, Mr Gupta was selected above the other claimants, namely Usurupati Venkateswarlu, Gomatham Srinivasa G. Ayyangar, and Sushil Kumar. Speculation that the government may depart from convention in the appointment of Mr Ranjan’s successor has now been settled.

It will be interesting to recall that earlier in July, the Tripura government had departed from the conventional seniority rule and appointed Alind Rastogi of the Indian Forest Service as head of the state Forest Force by ignoring the seniority of IFoS officers Ashok Kumar and Surender Kumar, both posted in Tripura.

New data chief
With the recent appointment of Pravin Srivastava as chief statistician of India (CSI), the only non-political key post that remains to be filled is that of the chief economic advisor.

Still, there was a long gap of eight months since T.C.A. Anant demitted office. The government had put out advertisements for filling up the post in February. While the full-time post was vacant, K.V. Eapen, secretary at the department of administrative reforms and public grievances and pensions and pensioners welfare, held additional charge as CSI. The delay in filling this critical position was the subject of much speculation. It has never been easy gathering reliable economic data, which was made more difficult by the inability of the Modi sarkar to appoint a chief statistician.

As CSI, Mr Srivastava will be responsible for generating the most important data in India, namely the estimation of gross domestic product (GDP) and retail inflation. Both are key, especially with general elections approaching fast. Also, the much-awaited annual and quarterly job surveys will be out anytime now.

Apart from macroeconomic data, there is the economic census, the annual survey of industries, and surveys on health, agricultural households, and consumption spending of Indians, for which the CSI is the point person.

Trouble brewing among cops
The nation’s top investigative agencies are in a very public meltdown, riven by the fierce rivalries among their top officials. While it is a bitter cop vs cop, sleuth vs sleuth situation in the CBI, which has dragged in even the mighty Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) into its awkward glare, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) too is experiencing its own upheavals. From being almost a shoo-in for another extension which would extend his tenure until April 2019, ED director, Karnal Singh, is now reportedly a worried man.

What made the Modi sarkar change its mind, literally at the 11th hour, is not clear. But observers say that the ED’s joint director Rajeshwar Singh going on “study” leave may muddy matters. Apparently, Mr Singh and CBI chief Alok Verma (already put out to pasture) are being seen as part of an anti-government cabal. The ongoing fracas between the government and the “police” agencies is not doing good to either. And the dust is unlikely to settle anytime soon as cops everywhere begin to weigh in, on either side.