Chandigarh, [Indrapreet Singh]. Punjab Chief General Secretary Karan Avtar Singh has already been removed from his retirement. Senior IAS officer Vini Mahajan has been replaced as the new Chief Secretary of Punjab. Vini Mahajan is the first woman Chief Secretary of Punjab. He is a 1987 batch IAS officer. This is the first time that a couple of senior officers together are on both the major posts in the state. Vini Mahajan’s husband Dinkar Gupta is the DGP of Punjab.
Karan Avatar was removed from office before retirement, transferred
Vini Mahajan was on Friday appointed as Chief Secretary in place of Karan Avtar Singh of 1984 batch. Karan Avatar’s retirement is on 31 August but he has already been removed by the government as the Chief Secretary of the state. It is believed that he will be made the chairman of a corporation or authority. Currently, he has been transferred to the post of Special Chief Secretary, Governance Reforms and Public Governance.
Vini Mahajan will also hold the charge of Principal Secretary of Personnel and Vigilance Department. Vini Mahajan was currently the Additional Chief Secretary in the Department of Industries. Orders will be issued later regarding the post of Additional Chief Secretary in the Department of Industries.
Also Read: Auto debit facility for Atal Pension Yojana to be started from July 1, keep money in account
Please tell that Karan Avtar Singh had a dispute with several ministers including the state finance minister in the past. Several cabinet ministers demanded his removal from the post of Chief Secretary. The ministers refused to attend any meeting with the presence of Karan Avtar Singh. After this, Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh had signed an agreement between the ministers and Karan Avtar Singh. The case came to an end after Karan Avatar Singh apologized. Now the government has secretly removed Karan Avtar Singh as Chief Secretary.
Three officers were the main contenders for the post of Chief Secretary of Punjab. Apart from Vini Mahajan, Vishwajit Khanna and KVS Sidhu were among the contenders. In the seniority order, Sidhu topped and Vini Mahajan was second. There were discussions of Vini Mahajan getting the support of National Security Advisor Ajit Doval. On the other hand, Sidhu was said to have the support of Congress President Sonia Gandhi.
