Puducherry Chief Secretary meets Union Home Secretary

Major reshuffle in political administration on the cards

As a sequel to Lieutenant Governor Virendra Katara’s remarks on poor Law and Order situation in Puducherry, Chief Secretary Chetan B. Sanghi on Wednesday met the Union Home Secretary Anil Goswami in New Delhi.

Mr. Sanghi, who rushed to New Delhi on an unscheduled visit, spent about an hour at the office of Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).

The meeting assumes significance in the backdrop of the comment made by the Lt. Governor that he did not know the nature of the briefing given to the Home Secretary on the law and order situation in Puducherry by the Chief Secretary and Inspector-General of Police on August 11 in New Delhi. Mr. Kataria had stated that the meeting (on law and order) was to be held at Raj Nivas with Mr. Goswami, but was shifted to New Delhi as he (Kataria) had to be operated upon on August 10. The Lieutenant Governor had also stated that he was not happy with the law and order situation in Puducherry and that Chief Minister N. Rangasamy did not discuss this issue with him though he met him on several occasions.

Informed sources told

The Hindu that Mr. Goswami, who had been following the recent developments in the Union Territory of Puducherry, reportedly discussed with Mr. Sanghi the prevailing law order situation in Puducherry and the report presented to him. It was learnt that the discussion also revolved around the remarks made by the Lt. Governor on the functioning of the Rangasamy government. The sources added that there might be a major reshuffle in police administration of the Union Territory in the next few days. Besides transfer of Superintendent of Police and Inspector-level officials, there might be transfers at the top level.