Haryana recommends service extension for Chief Secretary Anurag Rastogi
Haryana's BJP government has recommended a service extension for Chief Secretary Anurag Rastogi, who was scheduled to retire on June 30.
Sources within the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) said on Wednesday that the government has forwarded a formal request to the Centre, seeking a six-month extension for its incumbent chief secretary.
As per Rule 16 of the All India Services (Death-cum-Retirement Benefit) Rules 1958, the service of the chief secretary may be given an extension of service 'for a period not exceeding six months on the recommendations made by the State Government concerned with full justification and in the public interest, with the prior approval of the Central Government'.
The state government appointed Rastogi, a 1990-batch IAS officer, as the chief secretary in February to replace Vivek Joshi, after he was appointed the Election Commissioner of India.
Rastogi is also holding the charge of additional chief secretary (finance and planning) in the Haryana government.
Before his elevation as chief secretary, the power circles in Haryana had already predicted that Rastogi would be picked to succeed Joshi even though four other 1990-batch IAS officers -– Sudhir Rajpal, Sumita Misra, Anand Mohan Sharan, and Raja Sekhar Vundru — were in the race for the post.
All four officers are posted as additional chief secretaries, with Rajpal in charge of health, Misra of home, Sharan of environment, and Vundru of agriculture. Rajpal is the senior-most officer in the group, followed by Misra.
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