Gurugram: The Haryana government carried out a major administrative reshuffle Tuesday, with the most significant change the appointment of a full-time finance secretary ahead of the state budget session likely next month.
Arun Kumar Gupta, a 1992-batch IAS officer, and CM Nayab Saini’s principal secretary, who has been serving as an additional chief secretary in the urban local bodies department, has now been given the crucial finance portfolio.
Gupta will also continue as the CM’s principal secretary.
The state assembly’s budget session is barely a few weeks away—the date is likely to be decided in the Cabinet meeting on 2 February—and the finance department had been functioning without a dedicated secretary since 19 February 2025, when Anurag Rastogi took over as chief secretary after his predecessor Vivek Joshi was appointed an Election Commissioner.
The arrangement became increasingly untenable after Rastogi underwent heart surgery on 9 January this year.
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Sumita Misra moves out of home
The other major move in Monday’s reshuffle involved the home department. Sumita Misra, a 1990-batch IAS officer, who had been serving as home secretary, has been shifted out in a straight swap with Sudhir Rajpal, also from the 1990 batch.
Misra will also be the additional chief secretary for revenue and disaster management, a post commonly known as Financial Commissioner, Revenue, or FCR. Earlier, this post was vacant, and she served as link officer for the post.
This posting assumes importance because as a matter of practice, the post of FCR is given to the second senior-most officer in the state bureaucracy.
With Chief Secretary Anurag Rastogi due to retire after his term ends 30 June, Misra’s appointment significant.
In March 2024, three IAS officers of 1990 batch, Ankur Gupta (since retired), Raja Sekhar Vundru and Anurag Rastogi, had sought revision of the seniority list for the 1990 batch saying that Sudhir Rajpal (at number one in the batch), and Misra (at number 2), had come to Haryana cadre from some other state cadres, and should be placed at the bottom of the batch.
However, the Haryana government did not resolve the dispute and instead appointed Rastogi chief secretary in February 2025.
With Ankur Gupta retired and Rastogi due to retire in June, the seniority dispute among Raja Sekhar (due to retire in July this year) and others (Rajpal to retire in November 2026 and Misra in January 2027) is yet to be resolved.
But by appointing Misra as FCR, the government has considered her number 2 in the bureaucracy, at least de facto if not de jure.
Rajpal, who was looking at the departments of health and family welfare, medical education and environment as an additional chief secretary, now takes charge of the sensitive home department, while Misra moves to Rajpal’s former assignment.
CM Saini’s additional principal secretary Saket Kumar, a 2005-batch IAS officer, who was already holding the additional charge of commissioner and secretary in the panchayat department and managing director of the Haryana Power Generation Corporation Limited, has now been given further additional charge of commissioner and secretary, urban local bodies and member secretary, Kurukshetra Development Board.
Ram Singh, a 2012 batch IAS officer, district municipal commissioner, Panchkula, loses this position to Vijay Kumar, an Indian Railway Personnel Service officer of the 2015 batch who was holding the position of CEO of Metropolitan Development Board.
Ram Singh will continue holding his other charge of special secretary in the revenue department while Kumar will continue to hold his other posting of joint secretary, Haryana Public Service Commission, along with the positions they get after swapping.
(Edited by Viny Mishra)