Punjab Newsline, Shimla-
The Himachal government has appointed the Chief Information Commissioner and former Chief Secretary of the state RD Dhiman as the Chairman of the Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA).
Retired IAS Amit Kashyap has been appointed as a member of RERA. Principal Secretary Housing Devesh Kumar has issued orders in this regard on Tuesday.
It may be noted that this post was lying vacant after the retirement of former Chairman Shrikant Baldi on 31 December 2024. After the retirement of Baldi, the government had assigned the additional charge of RERA Chairman to Principal Secretary Devesh Kumar.
However, the current Chief Secretary Prabodh Saxena was a strong contender for the post. It was speculated that he would be appointed to this post after his retirement on March 31. But on the request of the state, the Central Personnel Department gave an extension of six months to Prabodh Saxena.
After this, the Sukhu government put the process of appointing the RERA chairman on hold and kept it hanging for about three months. It was believed that after the completion of six months of Saxena's tenure, he will get this post.
But a few days ago on June 20, the Himachal High Court severely commented on the delay in the appointment of RERA Chairman and imposed a fine of 5 lakh rupees on the state government. Now the government has appointed RERA chairman.
Dhiman is a senior IAS officer of 1988 batch
RD Dhiman is a 1988 batch IAS officer and is among the senior most officers of the state. Originally from Chintapurni in Una, Dhiman had retired from the post of chief secretary of the state.He is also remembered for his outstanding work during the tenure of the then Jai Ram government during Covid. He has served in many important administrative positions in the state government for 30 years.