Himachal Pradesh Chief Secy throws lavish Holi party for 75 bureaucrats; sends ₹1.2 lakh bill to govt

As Himachal Pradesh continues to reel under a massive debt of more than ₹1 lakh crore, the state's chief secretary decided it was the most opportune moment to have a lavish feast with 75 IAS officers and their families. 

That's right. Ahead of his retirement which was scheduled on March 31, Himachal Pradesh chief secretary Prabodh Saxena threw a lunch party for 75 IAS officers and their families on Holi at the state government-run Hotel Holiday Home located in Shimla.

Prabodh Saxena, however, has got a 6-month extension from the Central Personnel Department and will now continue on the post till September 30, 2025. This was the first time in the hilly state that an officer got an extension in the Chief Secretary post.  

The icing on the cake is that Saxena has now sent the ₹1.22 lakh bill to the secretary of the General Administration Department (GAD) for payment. Items of the bill include 77 meals for IAS officers and their families at ₹1,000 per person and meals for 22 drivers at ₹585 each among others. 

See Himachal Pradesh chief secretary's Holi party bill here

Commenting on whether this was an official or personal party, GAD secretary Rajesh Sharma told The Times of India that this is for the chief secretary to answer. When asked who would pay the bill, he said: "Obviously, it has to be done according to the directions of the final authority. Yu need to ask the chief secretary only."

BJP MLA Bikram Thakur raised serious concerns over the alleged misuse of state government funds for chief secretary Saxena's Holi bash. He criticised the Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu-led state government for being "indifferent to the suffering of the common people" and called for an impartial investigation and strict disciplinary action against those responsible. 

This, however, is not the first time that Saxena is in the midst of a controversy. In 2019, the senior IAS officer's name emerged in the INX Media case, a high-profile money laundering case involving former Union Minister P Chidambaram. 

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) named Prabodh Saxena, who was a senior official in the finance ministry at the time, in the chargesheet over alleged irregularities in the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) clearance for INX Media.