Rajya Sabha chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar has attached eight officers in his office to various standing committees and other parliamentary committees under the jurisdiction of the Upper House of Parliament.
Dhankhar’s officers on special duty (OSDs) Rajesh N. Naik, Akhil Choudhary, Abhyuday Singh Shekhawat, Dinesh D, Kaustubh Sudhakar Bhalekar, private secretary (PS) Sujeet Kumar, additional private secretary (APS) Sanjay Verma and senior PS Aditi Chaudhary have been attached to a total of 12 committees and all eight parliamentary standing committees under the Upper House.
Former Lok Sabha secretary general P Sreedharan said the appointments are “unusual” as parliamentary committees are usually assisted by officers from the parliament secretariat and they are chosen on the basis of their skill and domain knowledge.
“This is unusual because these officers are appointed as personal staff in the Hon’ble Vice President’s office while there is a separate branch that deals with secretarial assistance to the House panels,” he added.
In an internal order issued on March 7, it is said, “The following Officers have been attached with the Committees mentioned against their names with immediate effect and until further orders.”
According to the order, Rajesh N Naik has been attached to the Business Advisory Committee, general purpose committee and the standing committee on home affairs. Sujit Kumar, PS to Dhankhar, has been attached to the panel of IT management, privileges and standing committees on commerce and science and technology while Bhalekar is in transport, tourism and rules committees.
The new appointments cover all 12 committees and 8 department-related standing committees of the Rajya Sabha. All these panel come under the jurisdiction of the Rajya Sabha. Apart from these 20 panels, there are joint committees comprising of members from both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, ad hoc committees and joint committees formed on specific issues.
A senior official added that the new appointments would allow the officials attend any meeting of their respective committee.
