Centre orders Sanjit Rodrigues to report to Ladakh, Goa pleas rejected

Panaji: The Union ministry of home affairs (MHA) has ordered Sanjit Rodrigues — the CEO of the Smart City Mission and secretary for protocol and civil supplies — to join the Ladakh administration without delay.

The MHA stated that all requests from state govt for the cancellation of the transfer order or for the transfer order to be kept in abeyance have been rejected, and no further requests will be entertained.

The ministry has warned that failure to comply will lead to disciplinary action and withholding of promotion. This is the second time Rodrigues has been told by the MHA to report to duty in Ladakh. Although he received his transfer orders in Sep 2024, Rodrigues was not relieved by state govt due to pending works under the Smart City Mission.

“It has been observed that he was not relieved from govt of Goa till date. Should non-compliance of transfer orders persist, the officer would be deemed to be ‘stand relieved’ apart from other consequences under the service rules such as stoppage of salary, issuance of displeasure, debarment from promotion, and debarment from central deputation,” said MHA undersecretary Rakesh Kumar Singh in an order issued on Friday.

Singh stated that the guidelines for transfer and posting of IAS/IPS officers of the AGMUT (Arunachal Pradesh-Goa-Mizoram and Union Territory) cadre stipulate that officers under transfer shall be relieved to join their new segment within 15 days from the effective date of transfer.

“Sanjit Rodrigues shall ‘stand relieved’ from govt of Goa with effect from the date of issuance of this order and is directed to join his new place of posting, i.e., UT of Ladakh, immediately under intimation to this ministry,” said Singh.

A senior govt official said that Rodrigues will be relieved so that he can report for his new place of appointment. Goa govt had earlier decided not to relieve Rodrigues until the ongoing projects undertaken as part of the Smart City Mission were completed.

The deadline set by the Centre for the projects was March 31, and Rodrigues was overseeing the completion of the projects after mismanagement by earlier bureaucrats derailed the projects.