Many see red over charge given to retired IAS officer
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, June 02 2024: Entrusting the charge of Administrative Secretary of five Government departments including Forest to retired bureaucrat MH Khan has sparked controversy.

A person familiar with the matter said on the condition of anonymity that MH Khan retired as Additional Chief Secretary on May 31, 2024 on attaining the age of superannuation as per an order issued by the Department of Personnel, but the State Government issued another order on June 1, 2024 and allowed MH Khan to be the Administrative Secretary of the five departments.

The order dated June 1, 2024, however, didn't mention the tenure of service which the retired bureaucrat is going to hold other than saying that he will hold the post until a further order is issued and that he was allowed to continue his service as he was appointed as Special Chief Secretary on March 15, 2024 .

The controversy surrounding the second order dated June 1, 2024 is that MH Khan was never appointed as Special Secretary and the retired bureaucrat designated himself as Additional Chief Secretary in all official letters he had signed from March 15 to May 31, 2024, said the person.

An order issued by DP pertaining to the retirement of MH Khan also referred to him as Additional Chief Secretary, he added.

Saying that the controversial order also didn't mention whether the service period of MH Khan was extended or whether he was re-engaged, he asked on what conditions were MH Khan was given the post of Administrative Secretary of five Government Departments after his retirement.

The order didn't mention anything about taking approval from the Cabinet and the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), he further said.

The tenure of service must be mentioned if a retired official is to be re-engaged by the Government, he reasoned and added that the controversial order couldn't be related with service extension as it was issued after MH Khan retired.

Re-engagement of a Govt official also needs an approval from the Cabinet but the same was never taken while appointing MH Khan as the Administrative Secretary, he claimed and added that a retired official also cannot occupy a cadre post which is to be held by an IAS officer.

Significantly, the BJP led Government had earlier announced that it would not re-engage retired officers.

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