Home Ministry to let Arvind Kejriwal pick chief secretary

Delhi CM also raised issues relating to the law-and-order situation in the national capital.

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Arvind Kejriwal, left, with Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh in New Delhi (PTI photo)

Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) is likely to go out of its way and let Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal pick an official of his choice as the next chief secretary of Delhi. The move comes after Kejriwal held a meeting with Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh at Singh’s North Block office on Thursday.

Kejriwal, who was accompanied by Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, said he was called by the home minister to discuss various issues in Delhi. This was his first meeting with Singh after Kejriwal was sworn in as CM . Home secretary L C Goyal was also present at the meeting, which lasted around 15 minutes.

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Kejriwal’s government has expressed his desire to appoint a 1984 batch IAS officer of UT cadre, Ramesh Negi, as the next chief secretary and has also written to the Home Ministry for the same. The MHA, which is the cadre-controlling authority of the Delhi government, informed the city-state that Negi, currently posted as chief secretary in Arunachal Pradesh, would supersede at least 10 officers for appointment to the post.

When asked if Negi’s appointment was one of the issues discussed in the meeting, Kejriwal said, “We discussed many issues and there was nothing specific. But I can tell you one thing, the appointment can be done. Where there is a will, there is a way.”

The current chief secretary D M Spolia retires on Friday.

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