When V K Duggal retired as home secretary, the customary hectic lobbying began and ultimately a few names were shortlisted. According to sources, the Maharashtra Chief Secretary, Dr D K Shankaran, was summoned to New Delhi by Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil and asked to be ready to take up the post. Patil, who is from Maharashtra, obviously has a soft corner for IAS officers from his state.
Shankaran, who is from the 1970 batch and is due to retire soon, returned to Mumbai and met Chief Minister Vilas Rao Deshmukh to inform him of the new assignment at the Centre. Shankaran was keen to get the post as it would get him an extension of service because the new rules stipulate a two-year tenure for the home secretary.
But then came a quirk of destiny in the form of the dreaded slip between the cup and lip.
Before Shankaran could secure official intimation of his new job, Madhukar Gupta, an IAS officer of the 1971 batch arrived in North Block from Uttarakhand and whisked the chair away from under his nose. It is said that even Patil was left quite at a loss.
The incident indicates how the current dispensation works, with crucial decisions being taken quite far from the epicentre of action.
