As the incumbent information and broadcasting (I&B) secretary, the 1973 batch IAS officer, Asha Swarup gets ready to leave the ministry to assume charge of her new assignment in her home cadre as the chief secretary of Himachal Pradesh, names to fill the impending vacancy have started sprouting up in the higher bureaucracy. Among the names which have emerged as the frontrunners are?Sushma Singh, Vijay Singh and Santha Sheela Nair .
Sushma Singh, a 1972 batch Jharkhand cadre IAS officer has been serving as the secretary in the ministry of development of North Eastern Region since 2006. The other names under consideration by Cabinet Secretariat for the post include Vijay Singh, the Madhya Pradesh cadre officer who joined the Indian Administrative Services in 1970 and is currently serving as the defence secretary.
Singh is not a new name in the ministry as he has served earlier in the capacity of additional secretary in the I&B ministry till 2004. Prior to taking over as the defence secretary in July last year he had held the charge of secretary, road transport and highways in the ministry of shipping, road transport and highways. It was during Singh?s tenure that the ministry had initiated the roll out of CAS regime in the country. Santha Sheela Nair, a 1973 batch IAS officer from Tamil Nadu, whose name is also being considered by the Cabinet Secretariat for the post, is currently serving as the secretary in the department of drinking water supply.
Grapevine has it that the Cabinet Secretariat is keen on a women candidature for the post that enhances the chances of Sushma Singh and Santha Sheela Nair to occupy the post. Whoever’s name is finally zeroed down upon, will have to take significant stance on issues like the roll out of CAS regime across the country, the issue of measurement of television rating points, FDI limits in media sub sectors.