Shashi Kant Sharma, the 1976-batch Bihar cadre IAS officer set to replace Vinod Rai as the comptroller and auditor general (CAG) of India, has been on central deputation for over a decade but he has several admirers in the state.
His peers and mentors here are never tired of praising him. According to them, he is the best replacement for Rai.
Former chief secretary of Bihar and Jharkhand V.S. Dubey said: “He is a performer. A mild person, he never gets into argument with anyone. At the same time, he takes quick decisions and has the capacity to think positively.”
Sharma was a probationer under Dubey.
Another former chief secretary of Bihar Ashok Choudhary described Sharma as an outstanding officer.
“He is a straightforward man, upright and has the knack of going into the core of a problem. He always gave a good account of himself in whichever post he held,” said Choudhary, pointing out that not many people know that Sharma topped the UP secondary board exams.
The CAG-in-waiting has never worked in the state in the NDA regime, which is never tired of appreciating its “good governance”. He has been on central deputation from December 2, 2003.
“He has not worked under the regime of the NDA and it was always difficult to work in the Lalu-Rabri regime in which officials and employees had refused to work. The last post he held in Bihar was that of secretary of the urban development department. Even in those days he chalked out a town plan. He also pointed out how the garbage should be lifted and which roads should be widened. A lot of his plans were implemented under the present regime,” said another IAS officer.
The principal secretary of the health department, Vyasji, expressed happiness over Sharma’s selection as the CAG.
“He studied in Allahabad University, the same varsity I have studied in. I was junior to him,” Vyasji said, adding that Sharma was known as a brilliant and upright officer.
“When I took over the charge of labour commissioner, Sharmaji was my predecessor. Every officer and employee praised him. He had attempted to rationalise the transfers in the department. My minister then, Bashishtha Narayan Singh (now JD-U state president), always praised Sharmaji for his work,” Vyasji said.
Sharma has had a long experience in various districts of Bihar and Jharkhand as the district magistrate (deputy commissioner in Jharkhand) and also in the urban development department.
“He is known as a quiet worker. He will be entirely different from his predecessor, who went public several times against the Union government,” said an IAS officer, who has worked with him.
