The Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba on Thursday was given a one-year extension in service by the Centre, relaxing key rules in the process. This is the third extension on his post, making him the longest serving Cabinet Secretary in the country.
The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC), headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved the service extension for Gauba, a 1982-batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of Jharkhand cadre, for a period of one year beyond August 30, 2023, in relaxation of the AIS (Death-cum-Retirement Benefits) Rules, 1958 and Rule 56 (d) of the Fundamental Rules.
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The rules allow the central government to give extension in service to the cabinet secretary, in the public interest “provided that the total term of the cabinet secretary, who is granted such extensions of service, shall not exceed four years”, PTI reported.
This extension will allow Gauba to stay in the position during the Lok Sabha elections in 2024.
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He was first appointed in 2019 to the post for two years and later he was given a 1-year extension in 2021 and then in August last year.
Gauba is said to be the key architect of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019, under which the erstwhile state was provided the status of Union Territory, dividing into Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh following the abrogation of Article 370A.
Earlier he has served as secretary in the Union Urban Development Ministry and as an additional secretary in the Home Ministry.
Till now, B D Pande had been the longest serving cabinet secretary from November 2, 1972, to March 31, 1977.