Jammu: Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Secretary B.V.R. Subrahmanyam has surprised the bureaucracy by giving up a post-retirement coveted job cleared only last month by Prime Minister headed Appointments Committee of the Cabinet. The reason for his decision was not immediately known.
Upon his departure from Jammu and Kashmir in May last year, B.V.R. Subrahmanyam was posted as Commerce Secretary in the Government of India. It was widely speculated that he may be moved to Home Ministry or on some special assignment in the Prime Minister’s Office.
On September 15, 22, two weeks ahead of his retirement, the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi had cleared Subrahmanyam’s appointment as Chairman and Managing Director of India Trade Promotion Organization. He was to replace L.C. Goyal, who had already availed five extensions.
As India takes over the presidency of G-20 later this year, the post of Chairman and Managing Director of India Trade Promotion Organization is seen as crucial one with massive developments undergoing at the Pragati Maidan. Subrahmanyam’s appointment as ITPO chief was widely reported as Prime Minister’s handpick of a dynamic officer to coordinate with ministries and foreign countries in India’s G-20 presidency year.
The ITPO, the premier trade promotion enterprise of the Commerce and Industry Ministry, manages the country’s world-class exhibition complex Pragati Maidan in the national capital. The Pragati Maidan, which is being re-developed as the state-of-the-art International Exhibition-cum-Convention Centre (IECC), is slated to host the G-20 summit next year.
At present, the 90th Interpol general assembly is being held at Pragati Maidan. The event, which began on October 18 and will end on October 21, is being attended by delegations from 195 Interpol member countries.
However, in a surprise, Subrahmanyam is believed to have declined the post-retirement posting. His future plans were not immediately known. The ACC had last month appointed B V R Subrahmanyam as the ITPO chief for two years after his retirement as the Commerce Secretary on September 30.
Subrahmanyam, a 1987 batch (retired) IAS officer of the Chhattisgarh cadre, served as the chief secretary of Jammu and Kashmir when it was bifurcated into the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir and the Union Territory of Ladakh in 2019.
Following Subrahmanyam’s disinclination to take up the job, former Civil Aviation Secretary Pradeep Singh Kharola was on Wednesday appointed the Chairman and Managing Director of India Trade Promotion Organization (ITPO), a Personnel Ministry order said. Kharola, a 1985 batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of the Karnataka cadre, retired as the civil aviation secretary in September last year.
He took over as the chairman of the National Recruitment Agency (NRA) — mandated to conduct computer-based Common Eligibility Test for government job recruitment — in March this year.
The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has approved Kharola’s appointment as the Chairman and Managing Director, ITPO, in the rank and pay of secretary to the Government of India on a contract basis for two years from the date of assumption of charge of the post, it said.
He will continue to hold the charge of the post of chairman, NRA, till the appointment of a regular incumbent in his place, the order said.
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