Hunt on for Cab Sec

North Block and South Block are intensely discussing who will be selected as the new Cabinet Secretary. Nobody knows in the new governance setup except Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself but by August 2019, the new Cabinet Secretary has to be selected by the government. gfiles has been discussing the names of senior and competent civil servants in the last two issues. Now sources disclose that the official grapevine has zeroed in on three names. Rajiv Gauba, a 1982-batch IAS officer of the Chhattisgarh cadre, and current Home Secretary, is on top of the list. If official sources are to be believed, in all probability luck may smile on him. The second name which is being considered is said to be the dark horse, and is Dr Jagdip Narayan Singh, a 1983-batch IAS officer and currently Chief Secretary of Gujarat Government. As per the Gujarat lobby which is active in Delhi, in all likelihood Singh will be the choice of Modi. The Gujarat lobby, in fact, puts a counter question: why was he have been given an extension of service on June 1 as Chief Secretary had he not been in the reckoning. The third and most important name which has emerged is Subhash Chandra Garg, a 1983-batch IAS officer of the Rajasthan cadre and currently Secretary, Finance. Garg has degrees in Commerce and Law from the University of Rajasthan, Jaipur, and is a professionally qualified Cost and Works Accountant and a Company Secretary. Garg was Executive Director in the World Bank Group for Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Sri Lanka from November 2014 to July 2017. Garg served on the Board of Directors for the International Bank for Reconstruction & Development (IBRD), the International Development Association (IDA), collectively referred to as the World Bank, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA). Generally it has been observed that officials who have been selected as Cabinet Secretary have had experience in the Ministry of Petroleum or Textiles. Former Cabinet Secretary KM Chandrashekhar had a finance background. The present incumbent PK Sinha has the experience of Petroleum. As the government’s focus is more on monetary policies, it has to be seen who Narendra Modi chooses.