A primer on GOI's hidden power centre and why the CSS calls the shots

The overwhelming number of officers in the CSS cadres are an indication of the clout it wields on key policy decisions across ministries

In May this year, in a surprise of sorts, the secretary of the department of personnel and training (DoPT), Pradip Kumar Tripathi, was suddenly transferred to the cabinet secretariat as Secretary, Coordination. He was replaced by S Radha Chauhan, additional chief secretary, in charge of the crucial finance and tax department in the Uttar Pradesh government. She left just weeks before the Yogi Aditayanth led government in the state presented its first budget in the second term. 

Two things about the transfers stood out. It is not usual for a DoPT secretary to be moved out, with a substantial innings