Inside Babudom
Romila Dubey set to head power regulatory panel
HIS Grewal seeks permission to contest Golf Club poll
Prabhjot Singh/TNS

Chandigarh, January 27
Punjab’s seniormost serving civil servant, Romila Dubey, who is schedued to retire in April, is all set to take over as the Chairperson of the Punjab State Electricity Regulatory Commission. She will, thus, become the first woman to head this commission.

At present she is the Financial Commissioner, Revenue. There has been a tradition that the seniormost civil servant of the state posted in Punjab is made the Financial Commissioner, Revenue. Who will replace her will be known later this week or early next week after the return of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal from the US.

Incidentally, the Dubeys will join a select band of IAS couples to head statutory bodies. Her husband, A K Dubey, who is from the 1970 batch, heads the State Election Commission. He will retire on attaining the age of 65 years in October 2012. Romila Dubey will remain in office till 2016.

A K Dubey had succeeded Chaman Lal Bains in the State Election Commission.

She will succeed Jai Singh Gill, who retired early this month after attaining the age of 65 years. Jai Singh Gill, who served the Punjab Government as its Chief Secretary during the previous Congress government headed by Capt Amarinder Singh, remained the Chairperson of the commission for five years.

Jai Singh Gill, like his predecessor, R S Mann, belonged to the Indian Administrative Service. He is from the 1968 batch while RS Mann, who also served as the Chief Secretary to the Punjab Government during the previous term of the SAD-BJP government, belonged to the 1965 batch.

Going by seniority, the seniormost civil servant belonging to the Punjab cadre after Chief Secretary SC Aggarwal after Romila Dubey’s appointment will be Dr Bhushan Chander Gupta, who is already on central deputation holding the important position of Union Food Secretary.

The third civil servant belonging to the 1975 batch of the Punjab cadre after SC Aggarwal and Dr BC Gupta is Mukul Joshi, who is also Union Secretary. Next on the list is Damanbir Singh Jaspal of the 1976 batch. He will be due for retirement by the end of the year while his batchmate, A Didar Singh, also Union Secretary in the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs, will be retirring a month before him.

Meanwhile, Harjit Inder Singh Grewal, Secretary, Grievances and Pensions, Punjab, and belonging to the 1992 batch, has in a letter to Chief Secretary SC Aggarwal sought permission to contest the elections of the Chandigarh Golf Club.