HRD's School Education Secy Rina Ray repatriated

New Delhi: In a surprise decision, the government on Tuesday removed Rina Ray from School Education Secretary and moved her to her parent cadre with immediate effect. Ray is a 1984 batch IAS of the UT cadre.

The decision of the government has even surprised the Human Resource Development Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank' as he was also not aware of the 'sudden' move.

According to sources, the removal of Ray is linked to poor implementation of Diploma in Elementary Education (DElEd) programme being run by the National Institute of Open School. The programme was conceived by the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) as an alternate of Bachelor of Education (BEd) to address the shortage of teachers' issue.

As per sources, the way Ray has been removed, it's very clear that she was not in the good books of the PMO. There was also a strong buzz in the HRD Ministry that PMO wanted to place an officer of its choice in the ministry. The Ray's repatriation order to her parent cadre was issued by PK Tripathi, the secretary of Appointments Committee of the Cabinet, on Tuesday.

According to HRD Ministry officials, Ray vacated her office after calling on the HRD Minister. Ray was appointed to the post in August 2018.