Finance Secy Adhia to retire on Nov 30; Jaitley lauds his service
New Delhi: Showering praise on Finance Secretary Hasmukh Adhia, who retires on November 30, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley Saturday said he was a no-nonsense civil servant who performed his job with impeccable integrity.
In a Facebook post titled 'Dr. Hasmukh Adhia retires', Jaitley said the government wanted to use the outgoing finance secretary's capability and experience in some alternate capacity.
Adhia, who was also the revenue secretary, spearheaded the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax and took steps to curb black money and increase tax revenues.
"He was unquestionably a highly competent, disciplined, no-nonsense civil servant and of course, with impeccable integrity. His only diversion from his duties was his passion for spirituality and yoga," Jaitley added.
In a late-night government order, Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) CEO Ajay Bhushan Pandey has been named as Adhia's successor as the revenue secretary.
"He (Adhia) had informed me earlier this year that he would not work for a single day after the 30th of November 2018. His time thereafter belongs to his favourite passion and of course his son," Jaitley wrote.
Adhia, a 1981-batch Gujarat cadre officer of the Indian Administrative Services (IAS), moved to Delhi in November 2014 as secretary in the Department of Financial Services after Narendra Modi became the prime minister.
Adhia in a series of tweets thanked Modi and Jaitley for their guidance and leadership and expressed gratitude to his officers and staff.
"I am indeed privileged to have worked in Finance Ministry for 4 years under the guidance and leadership of Hon Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and Hon Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley, Adhia tweeted.
Giving credit to Adhia for implementing GST, Jaitley said, "It was his efforts supported by his team of officers of Centre and state governments, which made it possible to hit the deadline of 1st July 2017. Rate reductions and smoothening of the rough edges were also achieved in a record time."
