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Anurag Rastogi gets one-year extension as Haryana chief secretary
The central government has granted a year's extension in service to chief secretary Anurag Rastogi.
The 1990-batch Haryana IAS officer, who was due to retire on June 30, will continue to hold the charge of chief secretary till June 30, 2026.
A June 19 communication from the Union ministry of personnel said that the central government, on a proposal of the Haryana government, has approved extension of service for Rastogi from July 1, 2025 to June 30, 2026.
Hindustan Times was the first to report on June 8 that Rastogi would get an extension in service, thus enabling him to continue as chief secretary from July 1.
Since Rule 16 (1) of the All-India Service (death cum retirement benefits) Rules, 1958, provided for only six months of extension in service for the chief secretary, the central government relaxed this rule by invoking Rule 3 of All India Service (Conditions of Service- Residuary Matters) Rules, 1960, to grant Rastogi 12 months of extension in service. Rule 3 of All India Service (Conditions of Service- Residuary Matters) Rules, 1960, empowers the central government to dispense with or relax the requirements of a rule or regulations made under All India Services Act, 1951.
Rastogi was appointed as chief secretary in February this year after 1989-batch IAS officer Vivek Joshi took voluntary retirement on being chosen as Election Commissioner by the central government. The Nayab Singh Saini government appointed Rastogi as Joshi's successor by not following the seniority principle.
According to the gradation list of Haryana IAS officers, Sudhir Rajpal of the 1990 batch is the senior most as per the inter se seniority followed by Sumita Misra, Anurag Rastogi, Anand Mohan Sharan and Raja Sekhar Vundru. A dispute has been raised by the 1990-batch IAS officers regarding the inter-se seniority which remains unadjudicated.
Rastogi was also given the interim charge of chief secretary for a few days after the retirement of TVSN Prasad and before Joshi joined as the chief secretary in November 2024. Rastogi was later posted as financial commissioner, revenue (FCR) and also held the charge of additional chief secretary, finance and planning. He still holds the charge of the finance and planning departments.
