PANAJI
In an unexpected move, Chief Secretary Puneet Kumar Goel has been transferred by the Ministry of Personnel, New Delhi, and appointed as Secretary to the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (Ministry of Tribal Affairs).
Goel was promoted to Chief Secretary of Goa in February 2022. However, it remains unclear when he will be relieved from his current post.
The order issued on Saturday incidentally comes just two days after a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) writ petition was filed against him and others in the High Court of Bombay at Goa, challenging the alleged illegal zoning change of a property in Aldona.
Goel is facing serious allegations of illegal land conversion with the High Court likely to hear the petition for admission next week. The petitioners have also alleged corruption in the administration surrounding the zoning change. Neither the State government nor Goel has commented on the allegations so far.
His transfer is among eight IAS officers whose appointments have been approved by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet under the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions (Department of Personnel and Training).
In July, former Director General of Police Jaspal Singh was shunted to Delhi by the MHA just three days before the monsoon session of the legislative assembly following allegations of shielding Pooja Sharma in the Assagao house demolition case.
Meanwhile, the central order also named aviation regulator DGCA chief Vikram Dev Dutt as coal secretary, as part of a top-level bureaucratic reshuffle.
While senior bureaucrat V Umashankar was appointed as secretary, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, Tanmay Kumar was named as secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
