The top bureaucrat, who is credited with implementing demonetisation and GST, retires on 30 November.
Speculation is rife that Finance and Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia, who on Saturday announced that he would retire on 30 November, was tipped to be given a suitable placement post his retirement.
Sources said that Adhia, a 1981-batch Gujarat-cadre IAS officer who is credited with “successfully” implementing demonetisation and GST in the country, was considered to be appointed as the next Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) in place of the incumbent O.P. Rawat whose tenure ends on 2 December.
Others, however, said that he was in no mood to take up any responsibility after retirement. He was appointed as the Finance Secretary in November 2017 while he was working as the Revenue Secretary at the Centre.
Adhia, who turned 60 earlier this month, worked in the Finance Ministry for four years including the last three years as Revenue Secretary. His tenure in the dual position was marked with unparalleled developments like demonetisation, a process which was executed by a small team led by him, with economic experts questioning the execution of the whole process which affected the lives of millions of Indians and has allegedly led to an economic slowdown.
According to independent experts, Adhia and his team were unprepared for rolling out the massive exercise when 86% of the currency notes were declared invalid.
The implementation of Goods and Services Tax (GST), despite the Finance Ministry stating that it was “well-prepared” for it, too has come under a lot of criticism from independent experts for the glitches and shortfalls that it is still facing.
Earlier in June this year, Adhia again became the centre of controversy when he was accused by Rajeshwar Singh, an Enforcement Directorate (ED) officer of joint director rank, of “siding with scamsters and their affiliates” and helping former Finance Minister P. Chidamabram. However, Singh later withdrew the letter and apologised for the outbursts.
Commenting on Adhia’s retirement in a Facebook post, his boss and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley revealed that the government wanted him to continue in some “alternate” capacity but he declined the offer. “He had informed me earlier this year that he would not work for a single day after November 30. His time thereafter belongs to his favourite passion (spirituality and yoga) and of course his son,” Jaitley said in the post.