On the surface,the transfer of the Puducherry Chief Secretary to the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD) and appointing a successor here, appears as a deft move to ease the snowballing crisis between the Lt. Governor and the Government. Whether it will result in smoothening out affairs of governance in the Union Territory is something that remains to be seen.
For outgoing Chief Secretary Manoj Parida it represents a change to a near similar territory where the tiff between the Delhi Government-led by Arvind Kejriwal and Lt. Governor Anil Baijal is just as grating, and considerably more high profile.
The newly appointed Puducherry Chief Secretary Ashwani Kumar, who leaves behind his own battles as Delhi PWD Secretary with Mr. Kejriwal, enters a scenario where bureaucrats have been rendered insecure and demoralised by the pressure of serving parallel power centres perpetually at odds with each other.
In fact, another officer who was included in the Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Mizoram and Union Territories (AGMUT) cadre reshuffle was G. Narendra Kumar, Puducherry Development Commissioner, who was transferred to serve the Delhi government.
Mr. Kumar had been among the demoralised officers who had even sounded out a request to serve elsewhere.
Mr. Kumar, against whom the CBI had registered a case in the alleged medical admission scam, had given in writing to the Chief Secretary his reluctance to hold the charge of health and education departments any longer.
In his letter, Mr. Kumar had expressed his regret for not seeking to be relieved of the charge of the two departments earlier so that his name would not have figured in the case.
A. Anbarasu, who was Secretary (Services) with additional charge of Land and Building in Delhi, has been posted as Development Commissioner in Puducherry, and brings with him vast experience and close familiarity with Chief Minister V. Narayanasamy. He had served in Puducherry in various capacities.
Mr. Anbarasu was private Secretary when Mr. Narayanasamy was Minister of State in the Prime Minister Office in the UPA-II government.
