Former bureaucrat Dhesi to be ‘super boss’ in Haryana CMO

Pradeep Sharma
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, October 28

Retired bureaucrat DS Dhesi, who was recently appointed on the newly-created post of Chief Principal Secretary to Chief Minister (CPSCM), will be the “super boss” in the Chief Minister’s Office (CM0).

Besides being the overall in charge of the CMO, he will be looking after at least 12 important departments in the CMO.

In the re-allocation of the departments in the CMO today, Dhesi has been given matters relating to legislative business, parliamentary affairs, law and legislative, citizen resource information, excise and taxation, irrigation, general administration, personnel, administrative reforms, hospitality and electronics and information technology.

The other important departments such as home, criminal investigation, administration of justice, vigilance, jails, town and country planning and urban estates, urban local bodies, foreign cooperation and industries will also be under his charge.

The new Principal Secretary to Chief Minister (PSCM), V Umashankar, will have to be content with 10 departments, including finance and planning, agriculture, labour and employment, renewal energy, revenue, science and technology, power, cooperation, transport, and mines and geology. 

Earlier, former PSCM Rajesh Khullar called the shots in the CMO, a role which has now been usurped by Dhesi.

Similarly, Yogender Chaudhary, Advisor, Resource Mobilisation in the CMO, has been allocated departments of arts and cultural affairs, social justice and empowerment, tourism, welfare of SCs and BCs, project director of the drug-free Haryana Mission, resources mobilisation, animal husbandry and dairy development and industrial training and vocational education.

One of the two Deputy Principal Secretaries to Chief Minister (DPSCM) Ashima Brar will look after architecture, archaeology and museums, archives, elections, environment, food and supplies, housing, fisheries, public health engineering, printing and stationery, sports and youth affairs, women and child development and PWD.

The other DPSCM Amit Agarwal has been given the charge of AYUSH, health, medical education and research, higher education, school education, technical education, development and panchayats and forests and wildlife. An HCS officer, Satish Kumar, will look after CM announcements, CM relief fund, HRDF and wakf affairs.

Principal Officer on Special Duty (OSD) Neeraj Daftaur has been allocated public relations while OSD Bhupeshwar Dayal will deal with grievances.