TEAM HERALD
PANJIM: Bureaucrats Parimal Rai and Pawan Kumar Sain, considered to be loyal to Union Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar have been transferred to New Delhi with immediate effect. It is likely that both will be posted in the Defence Ministry.
“The joint cadre authority of AGMU Cadre has approved, transfer and posting of the IAS officers with immediate effect,” the order issued by Under Secretary to the Government of India A K Das, on November 14 reads.
There had been speculation during the past week that Parrikar, who was appointed as Defence Minister on November 9, would take both these principal secretaries to New Delhi with him.
Rai, an IAS officer of the 1985 batch, held key departments like Public Works Department (PWD), Town and Country Planning (TCP), Industries and Transport in Goa. Sain, an IAS officer of the 2005 batch was principal secretary Mines, Civil Aviation, Institute of Public Assistance and Information & Publicity.
With Sain’s transfer the early resolution of the mining issue could face a setback. Not only was Sain the main bureaucrat handling the mining issue, but Parrikar was the minister in charge of the department. With both in Delhi, Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar, who has kept the mines portfolio for himself, could face some difficulty in handling and resolving the issue.
Sain, had been in the news when as an election observer in Uttar Pradesh he had stopped Congress President Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law Robert Vadra’s motorcycle rally. He was posted to Goa in 2012.
The two bureaucrats will be replaced by secretaries from Arunachal Pradesh – D A Hawaldar, IAS (2004) and Manoj Kumar Sahoo, IAS (2005). Hawaldar, was a former director of the State Municipal Administration (DMA) and also served as South Goa District Collector, before he went for IAS studies and got posted in AP.
Along with Sain and Rai, Secretary Tribal Welfare Talem Tapak, of the 2002 IAS batch has also been transferred to AP. He will be replaced by Srikant T from Puducherry of the 2004 IAS batch.
