1985-batch officer named Delhi’s new chief secretary

Senior Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Dharmendra was appointed as the chief secretary of Delhi on Saturday. A 1989-batch officer of Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Mizoram and Union Territory (AGMUT) cadre, he will replace incumbent Naresh Kumar of the 1987-batch whose second consecutive service extension ended on August 31.
“With the approval of the Competent Authority, Sh. Dharmendra, IAS (AGMUT:1989) is hereby transferred from Arunachal Pradesh to Delhi and posted as Chief Secretary, GNCTD w.e.f.01.09.2024 or with effect from the date of joining, whichever is later,” said an order dated August 31, issued by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
Currently, serving as the chief secretary of Arunachal Pradesh, Dharmendra is one of the most senior officers in the AGMUT cadre. Born in September, 1965, he has done BTech in civil engineering and was appointed the chief secretary of Arunachal Pradesh on April 19, 2022.
During his over 34 years of service, Dharmendra has held several key positions in the Delhi government, central government and other places under AGMUT cadre that included his role as the district magistrate of east and northwest Delhi in 1998, officer on special duty to Union minister of Youth Affairs and Sports in 1999, secretary and commissioner of the industry department of the Delhi government in 2008-09, secretary of environment and forest department in 2009-11, secretary of the irrigation and flood control department of the Delhi government in 2011, additional secretary of the consumer affairs, food and public distribution of the central government in 2018-19.He also served as the chairman of the New Delhi Municipal Council in 2019.
“As he has served in various departments of the Delhi government for a long period of time, Dharmendra is one of the best suited officers for the role, as he understands the challenges of public administration and the complexities of governance and multiplicity of agencies in the Capital,” said a retired chief secretary of Delhi requesting anonymity.
Dharmendra’s appointment comes at a time when the bureaucracy has a strained relationship with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Delhi and several senior officers have had a run-in with the ministers over a range of issues, including waterlogging, de-silting of drains, felling of trees in south Delhi, vacancy of doctors and paramedical staff in the Delhi government hospitals. Additionally, the tussle between the AAP and the lieutenant governor continues unabated over a range of issues.
The new chief secretary will have a tough task at hand – running the bureaucracy while ensuring the work of the general public is done as per their expectations in an already tense environment due to sustained tussle between the AAP government and the LG, and the endless cycle of allegations and counter allegations.
HT reached to the Delhi government but did not get any response to request for comment.
The assembly election of Delhi are likely to be held in February next year.
To be sure, the Union ministry of home affairs appoints Delhi’s chief secretary, since Delhi is a union territory and does not have a dedicated IAS cadre of its own, and relies on officers from the AGMUT cadre.
Naresh Kumar was appointed as the chief secretary on April 21, 2022, and retired on November 30, 2023, following which he was given an extension for six months and another for three months till August 31 due to the Lok Sabha elections.
Kumar had frequent clashes with the AAP government over a range of issues, the latest being the de-silting of drains and the appointment of doctors and paramedical staff in the government hospitals.
The AAP government accused Naresh Kumar of bypassing the chief minister by directly sending files to the lieutenant governor, violating the constitutional system. The AAP has also alleged that Kumar was involved in a scheme to increase compensation for land in Bamnoli village, acquired by NHAI for the Dwarka Expressway, to benefit a company linked to his son, Karan Chauhan.
Delhi’s vigilance minister office in October 2023 said chief minister Arvind Kejriwal has asked the vigilance minister to investigate a complaint about irregularities in land acquisition for Dwarka expressway and whether the company that employed the chief secretary’s son benefitted in the process. Vigilance minister Atishi in November 2023 submitted a preliminary probe report to Kejriwal over the alleged irregularities and said that the probe found that the company linked to his son made ₹897 crore of “illicit profits”.
Kumar had dismissed the allegations, saying that “it seems to be a vendetta against me by vested interests with obvious reasons when so many illegalities (like excise scam, power sector case, etc.) have been exposed by me.” Kumar added that he ordered a CBI inquiry against an officer allegedly involved in the alleged irregularity.