Vice-President makes changes in Rajya Sabha Secretariat

New Delhi: More than a month after taking charge as India's Vice-President, Jagdeep Dhankhar on Thursday made bureaucratic changes in the Rajya Sabha Secretariat, of which he is the ex-officio chairman.

He has brought in Rajit Punhani, a 1991 IAS officer of the Bihar cadre, as the Secretary of the Secretariat – a post which was lying vacant since September 2021. Punhani was Special Secretary and Financial Advisor in the Ministry of Home Affairs prior to this change.

A separate order appointed Ms Vandana Kumar from the 1992 batch of Indian Defence Accounts Service as the Additional Secretary. Kumar was Additional Secretary in the Ministry of New & Renewable Energy.

A third order places Sumant Narain from the 2000 batch of Indian Audit & Accounts Service as the Joint Secretary and Financial Advisor replacing a senior IAS officer Puneet Kumar from the 1993 batch belonging to Kerala state cadre.

Kumar's removal from the position has raised eyebrows considering he was appointed by Dhankhar's senior and predecessor Venkaiah Naidu in May last year and had almost two years more to serve.

On August 31, Dhankhar relieved Ravi Capoor as the chief executive officer of Sansad TV after his extended tenure ended, giving additional charge to the Lok Sabha Secretary General. Capoor was appointed March 2021 for one year after which he got six months more while Naidu was at the helm.

Incidentally, PC Mody has been retained as the Secretary General. Mody was appointed last November after PPK Ramacharyulu was removed from that post just 10 weeks after his appointment. Mody is a former chairman of the Central Board of Direct Taxes.