Haryana moves Centre for second service extension of Chief Secretary Anurag Rastogi

Chandigarh

With the State Chief Secretary Anurag Rastogi’s present tenure ending on June 30, Sources in the administration revealed that the Haryana Government has approached the Centre seeking a second extension of his service. The Centre is expected to take the final call on whether he receives a three-month or one-year extension. A one-year extension would allow him to remain in office until June 2028.

Moreover, the possibility of a second service extension for the Chief Secretary Rastogi has triggered fresh discussions and speculation over potential administrative reshuffles within the state’s bureaucracy.

A 1990-batch IAS officer Rastogi was initially appointed Chief Secretary on October 31, 2024, as an interim arrangement pending the repatriation of Senior IAS officer Dr Vivek Joshi from Central deputation. His first tenure in the top bureaucratic post lasted only a few days. Following Dr Joshi’s appointment as Election Commissioner in February 2025, the state government appointed Rastogi as Chief Secretary on a regular basis.

This move drew attention within bureaucratic circles as it bypassed two senior officers of the 1990 batch—Sudhir Rajpal and Sumita Misra—who were placed above Rastogi in the Haryana IAS cadre’s gradation list.

Rastogi attained the age of superannuation on June 30, 2025, but was granted a one-year extension by the government, enabling him to continue as Haryana Chief Secretary.

If granted a second extension, Rastogi would not be the first Chief Secretary in the country to receive multiple tenure extensions. In Uttar Pradesh, former Chief Secretary Dina Nath Mishra was granted three successive extensions.

A possible extension for Rastogi could have significant implications for senior IAS officers who have long been viewed as contenders for the Chief Secretary’s post. Among them is 1990-batch Additional Chief Secretary Sudhir Rajpal, who is due to retire on November 30 this year, and Sumita Misra, another officer of the same batch, who is set to retire in January 2027. Additional Chief Secretary (Transport) Raja Shekhar Vundru is also scheduled to retire in July, 2026.

The Haryana administration is also staring at a significant leadership transition over the next few years. According to service records, more than two dozen senior IAS officers of the Haryana cadre and related services are scheduled to retire between 2026 and June 2028. These include senior officers such as Sudhir Rajpal, Sumita Misra, Vineet Garg, G. Anupama, Anil Malik, A.K. Singh, Abhilaksh Likhi, Arun Kumar Gupta, V. Umashankar, Sukriti Likhi, Anurag Aggarwal, D. Suresh, Sanjay Joon, Geeta Bharti, Kulwant Kumar Kalson, Jitendra Kumar, Anju Chaudhary, Narhari Singh Bangar, Manoj Kumar, Shakti Singh, Virendra Kumar Dahiya, Vivek Padam Singh and Dr. Brahmjeet Singh Rangi. Many of these officers currently occupy key positions as Additional Chief Secretaries, Principal Secretaries, Secretaries and heads of major departments.