After intense lobbying by several officers and the State government’s vacillation for six months, 1979-batch IAS officer Om Prakash Meena has been appointed the new Chief Secretary of Rajasthan. Mr. Meena assumed office late on Thursday, succeeding C.S. Rajan, who was given extension twice on the post.
The Chief Secretary’s office had become the object of speculation for the past several months, with Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje taking time in selecting the officer for the top bureaucratic post. Mr. Meena’s selection has ostensibly sent across a positive message to the backward communities for their inclusion in governance.
So intense was the speculation about the Chief Secretary's appointment that former Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Ashok Gehlot questioned the logic in “unnecessarily” making the matter about the post “too sensational”. In a statement, he reminded the bureaucracy that Ms. Raje had “demoralised” all the officers by calling them incompetent six months ago.
Mr. Meena was third in seniority after Mr. Rajan and his appointment came as a surprise, as he was not thought to be among those in the reckoning for the post till recently. The dowry harassment charges levelled by his wife – a Rajasthan Administrative Service officer – against him were seen as one of the negative factors that could remove him from the race.
Mr. Meena is the first officer from a Scheduled Tribe to occupy the highest bureaucratic post in the State. Political observers feel that this factor is likely to help the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, as the Meena community enjoys a dominant position in a large number of Parliamentary and Assembly constituencies.
Mr. Meena hails from a family in Sawai Madhopur district which has given several politicians and bureaucrats to the State and the country. His elder brother Namo Narain Meena, who retired from Indian Police Service, entered politics and was the Minister of State for Finance in the Manmohan Singh government.
