Chandigarh: In a significant bureaucratic move, the Punjab govt has sent panels of four IAS officers and six PCS officers to the Chandigarh administration for consideration and selection. From these panels, one IAS officer and two PCS officers are to be selected for deputation to the UT administration.According to official sources, the Punjab govt forwarded the IAS panel after Chandigarh administration sought fresh recommendations. IAS officers whose names have been sent include 2013 batch officers Harpreet Sudan and Amit Talwar, and 2014 batch officers Preeti Yadav and Jaspreet Singh.Amit Talwar moved from the Punjab Civil Services (PCS) cadre to IAS, while the remaining three — Harpreet Sudan, Preeti Yadav and Jaspreet Singh — are direct IAS officers.Talwar earlier served with the Chandigarh administration and held several key positions, including additional deputy commissioner (ADC) and director, transport. Among the four IAS officers proposed, Talwar is the only one with previous experience of serving in the Union Territory. The other three officers have never served with the Chandigarh administration.All four officers have held important administrative assignments in Punjab, including postings as deputy commissioners (DCs). Harpreet Sudan and Amit Talwar served as DCs of Amritsar, while Preeti Yadav and Jaspreet Singh served as DCs of Patiala and Jalandhar, respectively.Besides the IAS panel, the Punjab govt has also sent the Chandigarh administration a panel of six PCS officers, from which two officers are to be selected. Officers nominated in the PCS panel are Avneet Kaur, Avikesh Gupta, Balbir Raj Singh, Ravinder Singh Arora, Inder Pal and Deepankar Garg.Sources in the Chandigarh administration said since the names of all 10 officers — four IAS and six PCS — have been officially forwarded, the selection process would take place at the highest level. The final decision will be taken by Punjab governor and Chandigarh administrator Gulab Chand Kataria.Scrutiny of the officers will involve multiple parameters, including work experience, professional image, service conduct, past service record and other relevant aspects. Officials indicated that the selection process may take one to ten days.The fresh panels have been sent after the Chandigarh administration recently returned earlier panels received from Punjab and Haryana, citing anomalies. While Punjab has now sent a revised panel, the Chandigarh administration is still awaiting a fresh HCS officers’ panel from the Haryana government.
