A small post in Odisha Government has aroused big expectations. 

The Department of Steel & Mines (DOSM) is all along considered as a smaller one. 

So the post of the Secretary, DOSM never considered as a heavy weight job. 

But during last few years with the boom in mineral sector, the post has assumed a larger than life allure. 

Secretary DOSM usually become Chairman of the Odisha Mining Corporation, the largest profit making Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) of the State. 

OMC is treated as a solid base for peddling patronage in shape of allocating raw materials to the industries. 

MOUs for mega industries setting up steel projects are in the domain of the DOSM. 

Top honchos of the Behemoths like POSCO, ArcelorMittal, Tata Steel, Jindal and few others line up for meeting the Secretary Steel & Mines. 

NO wonder with Ashok Dalwai, Principal Secretary of DOSM leaving for Central Berth during last week of March, speculations are rife regarding the ‘fortunate next incumbent’. 

Corridors of Power are now agog with expectations. 

Most of the Bureaucrats of Commissioner-cum-Secretary and Principal Secretary Rank hope to make it to the coveted post. 

In the frenzy of expectations, the risk and dangers of the job are relegated to the background, feel Babudom Watchers.
All and sundry are asking “who is the next Secretary Steel & Mines”. 

With Mega Mining Scam overtaking the State Government’s clean reputation, the Secretary Steel & Mines always is in the eye of storm. 

Dr.Dalwai, who was all along on the firing line of Media, Opposition Lawmakers, Courts and Central Empowered Committee (CEC) has successfully weathered the Mega Mining Mayhem due to his cool, calculated, honest and impartial approach till date. 

The occupational hazard of the post is much more than its so called luster, said an insider in DOSM. 

A retired Principal Secretary of DOSM commented that now the post of Secretary Steel & Mines has become the unenviable job in Odisha Bureaucracy. 

It carries hell of tensions,  the mandarin will be always hounded by Media and intrepid NGOs in the future because of the alleged multi-crore scam and controversies over mega Greenfield projects, pointed out he. 

Yet the risks and tensions do not deter aspirants from hoping and maneuvering for this ‘lucrative’ assignment. 

Intense lobbying is on in the Corridors of Power for the post and interestingly younger Secretaries are seen more interested for the job, said an insider.

And it remains to be seen, who manages to adorn the ‘Crown of Thorns’!!!