Appointment of Chief Principal Secretary to Haryana CM kept in abeyance

Chandigarh: Less than four hours after the appointment of former top bureaucrat Rajesh Khullar, a close aide of two-time Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, as Chief Principal Secretary to Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini, the government has revoked its order regarding his appointment.

A 1988-batch IAS officer, Khullar worked as Principal Secretary to Khattar for five years and was the most powerful official in the state government. Later, he became the World Bank's Executive Director in September 2020 and served for three years.

After Saini replaced Khattar as the chief minister in March this year, Khullar continued as the Chief Principal Secretary.

In February 2023, Khullar was repatriated to his parent cadre at the request of the state government and he retired last year.

At around 8 p. m. on Friday, an order came regarding Khullar's appointment as the Chief Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister in the rank and status of Cabinet Minister with immediate effect. At midnight, another order was issued by the Chief Secretary, saying, "The orders issued with regard to the appointment of the Chief Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister, Haryana, are kept in abeyance till further orders."

At one point of time during Khattar's tenure as CM, who was now a Union minister, Khullar also held the assignment of Haryana Home Secretary along with being Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister.

Khullar held several important positions in both Central and Haryana governments which included the Joint Secretary with the Department of Economic Affairs of the Union Ministry of Finance.

After graduating from Panjab University in Chandigarh with a master's degree in physics in 1984, Khullar holds a master's degree in public administration from the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies in Tokyo.

His term was co-terminus with the term of the Chief Minister, an order issued by Chief Secretary T. V. S. N. Prasad had said.