State govt transfers IAS officer, triggers speculation
Move Comes After Request For Voluntary Retirement
Julie Mariappan & D Govardan TNN
Chennai:29,01,2020
The government on Monday posted information technology secretary Santhosh Babu as chairman and managing director of Tamil Nadu Handicrafts Development Corporation, a post he had been holding additionally since September. Rural Development and Panchayat Raj secretary Hans Raj Varma will now hold additional charge of Information Technology.
Santhosh Babu’s transfer comes in the wake of reports that he had sought voluntary retirement and later withdrew it. The transfer assumes significance given the controversial high-cost tender floated by his department in December to provide broadband connectivity to all 12,524 villages. The state government secured the Centre’s nod for the ₹1,815.31 crore project. Amid reports of ‘pressure’ to favour some bidders, the officer sent a letter to chief secretary K Shanmugam via email last week seeking voluntary retirement and sent another mail two days later, seeking its withdrawal, said a senior official, on condition of anonymity. Santhosh Babu went on leave last week.
Close associates said the senior officer gave shape to Tamil Nadu FibreNet Corporation (Tanfinet), a special purpose vehicle floated for implementing the Centre’s BharatNet project to link all 2.5 lakh village panchayats in the country with broadband. Tanfinet was picked to implement the project covering all villages in Tamil Nadu. “He not only worked from the beginning to help implement the project in Tamil Nadu, he also visited New Delhi to attend meetings to get it going,” sources said. The state will soon launch TamilNet to connect all urban local bodies, but without Santhosh Babu to oversee the roll out. “It is unfortunate a go-getter like Santhosh was shifted out and additional charge given to rural development secretary, whose hands are already full,” said an official, not willing to be named.
The government made Tanfinet MD M S Shanmugam commissioner of museums. D Ravichandran, home, prohibition and excise department deputy secretary, is the new MD of Tanfinet. Hans Raj Varma holds additional charge of special programme implementation department that takes care of welfare schemes. He held additional charge of Sidco (Small Industries Development Corporation) and registration department in 2017 and 2019.
Move Comes After Request For Voluntary Retirement
Julie Mariappan & D Govardan TNN
Chennai:29,01,2020
The government on Monday posted information technology secretary Santhosh Babu as chairman and managing director of Tamil Nadu Handicrafts Development Corporation, a post he had been holding additionally since September. Rural Development and Panchayat Raj secretary Hans Raj Varma will now hold additional charge of Information Technology.
Santhosh Babu’s transfer comes in the wake of reports that he had sought voluntary retirement and later withdrew it. The transfer assumes significance given the controversial high-cost tender floated by his department in December to provide broadband connectivity to all 12,524 villages. The state government secured the Centre’s nod for the ₹1,815.31 crore project. Amid reports of ‘pressure’ to favour some bidders, the officer sent a letter to chief secretary K Shanmugam via email last week seeking voluntary retirement and sent another mail two days later, seeking its withdrawal, said a senior official, on condition of anonymity. Santhosh Babu went on leave last week.
Close associates said the senior officer gave shape to Tamil Nadu FibreNet Corporation (Tanfinet), a special purpose vehicle floated for implementing the Centre’s BharatNet project to link all 2.5 lakh village panchayats in the country with broadband. Tanfinet was picked to implement the project covering all villages in Tamil Nadu. “He not only worked from the beginning to help implement the project in Tamil Nadu, he also visited New Delhi to attend meetings to get it going,” sources said. The state will soon launch TamilNet to connect all urban local bodies, but without Santhosh Babu to oversee the roll out. “It is unfortunate a go-getter like Santhosh was shifted out and additional charge given to rural development secretary, whose hands are already full,” said an official, not willing to be named.
The government made Tanfinet MD M S Shanmugam commissioner of museums. D Ravichandran, home, prohibition and excise department deputy secretary, is the new MD of Tanfinet. Hans Raj Varma holds additional charge of special programme implementation department that takes care of welfare schemes. He held additional charge of Sidco (Small Industries Development Corporation) and registration department in 2017 and 2019.
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