Reshuffle of government officials on cards

NEW DELHI: Even before the assembly election results are out, Delhi government bureaucracy is already anticipating a churn in the top rungs.The main person in focus is chief secretary DM Spolia who was removed from the top slot when the AAP government took charge on December 28, 2013. Later, Spolia returned to the top post in a bureaucratic reshuffle and the BJP-led Centre sent AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal's chosen man, former DDA vice-chairman SK Srivastava, to Delhi Finance Commission. Spolia is to retire on February 27, but the buzz is whether a new government will allow him to complete his tenure. Since the Centre is in-charge of clearing appointment of IAS officials, all eyes are now on the how a new government, particularly if it is AAP , will choose its bureaucrats.

Sources said that if AAP does make the majority mark, SK Srivastava may not return to the top slot. However, other senior officials hand-picked by Kejriwal and his team are likely to return to the forefront. Nearly a hundred officials were either transferred or reshuffled by the AAP government during its 49-day stint.The transfer spree began within hours of the new government taking charge as more than half a dozen top bureaucrats from the Sheila Dikshit regime were reshuffled.

One of the last orders involved the transfer of 15 SDMs two days before Kejriwal resigned over the Jan Lokpal Bill. The AAP government gave special attention to departments involved in public dealing, like revenue, anti-corruption branch, sub-registrar and VAT department.