IPS officer OP Singh to hold administrative secy’s post

Pradeep Sharma

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 16

Another senior IPS officer — OP Singh — is set to head an administrative department, a cadre post traditionally held by the IAS officer.

With the Haryana Government on Monday placing the services of OP Singh, ADGP (Human Rights and Litigation), at the disposal of the Chief Secretary for further posting in the government, speculation is rife that the police officer is set to hold a secretary-level post in one of the departments.

Once posted, OP Singh, a 1992-batch IPS officer of the Haryana cadre, will be the second police officer to head a department in recent times after Shatrujit Kapoor, who was appointed Chairman of the Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (UHBVN) and the Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (DHBVN).

During the previous Congress government headed by Bhupinder Singh Hooda, OP Singh had held the post of the Director (Sports). He was credited with several ‘pro-sports’ initiatives started by the previous Congress government which went a long way in the emergence of Haryana as a sports powerhouse of the country.

Secretary-level posts have traditionally been the preserve of IAS officers and any attempt to post non-IAS officers on these posts was vehemently opposed by them. In fact, after the posting of Kapoor as the Chairman of the discoms, there were murmurs of protests from the IAS lobby.

However, a senior functionary of the state government told The Tribune that postings of the All-India service officers such as the IAS, IPS and the IFS were the prerogative of the state government. ”The postings are done on the basis of seniority, aptitude and needs of the administration with a view to providing better governance to the people,” he added.