Gurugram: The Haryana government led by Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar promoted 33 IAS officers on the last day of 2023. Among them, four officers of the 1993 batch were promoted to chief secretary’s grade — the highest rank in the state bureaucracy.
The four officers are Venkatesan Umashankar, Khattar’s principal secretary; his wife Deepti Umashankar, who is currently on central deputation as an additional secretary in the Ministry of Personnel and Training; Sukriti Likhi, who is also on central deputation as an additional secretary in the Department of Heavy Industry; and Neerja Sekhar, who is serving as an additional secretary in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
Except for Venkatesan Umashankar, all three officers got a proforma promotion to the chief secretary’s grade, which means they will retain their current postings until they return to the state cadre. The chief secretary’s grade corresponds to level 17 in the pay matrix.
The Haryana government also promoted four officers of the 2008 batch to the ‘super time scale’ — Anshaj Singh, Rajiv Rattan, Ripudaman Singh Dhillon, and Nikhil Gajraj.
Singh, Rattan, and Dhillon are serving in various state government departments, while Gajraj is on central deputation as the private secretary to the Minister for Skill Development & Entrepreneurship (Dr Mahendra Nath Pandey).
The promotion to the super time scale is subject to the condition that the officers complete Phase-V of the mid-career training programme as and when the Government of India organises it for them, said the promotion order.
The super time scale corresponds to level 14 in the pay matrix.
12 officers of 2011 batch reach selection grade
The state government also promoted 12 officers of the 2011 batch to the selection grade of the IAS.
The 12 officers are Aditya Dahiya, Amit Khatri, Mukul Kumar, Naresh Kumar, Anju Chaudhary, Mahavir Kaushik, Yash Pal, Yashendra Singh, Narhari Singh Banger, Pardeep Kumar, Vinay Pratap Singh, and Vijay Kumar Siddappa Bhavikatti.
Vinay Pratap Singh and Bhavikatti are on central deputation as the deputy commissioner of the Chandigarh administration and the director of census operations for the state of Karnataka, respectively. They got a proforma promotion to the selection grade.
The selection grade corresponds to level 13 in the pay matrix.
7 officers of 2015 batch and 6 of 2020 batch get higher scales
The Haryana government also promoted seven officers of the 2015 batch to the junior administrative grade of the IAS. The seven officers are Rahul Hooda, Mohd Imran Raza, Prashant Panwar, Preeti (who goes by first name), Uttam Singh, Neha Singh, and Shantanu Sharma.
For Hooda, Panwar and Sharma, the promotion is subject to the completion of Phase 3 of the mid-career training as and when the GoI organises it, the order said. The junior administrative grade corresponds to level 12 in the pay matrix.
The government also promoted six officers of the 2020 batch to the senior time scale of the IAS. The six officers are Pradeep Singh, Deepak Babulal Karwa, Pankaj (who goes by his first name), C. Jayasharadha, Harshil Kumar, and Rahul Modi.
The senior time scale corresponds to level 11 in the pay matrix.
(Edited by Richa Mishra)
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