New Delhi: Outgoing finance secretary Subhash Chandra Garg, who was abruptly moved to the power ministry last night, has reportedly applied for voluntary retirement.Multiple media outlets on Thursday afternoon reported that Garg had moved a voluntary retirement application, preferring to resign over a year before his scheduled ‘superannuation’ date.If the Centre accepts his decision, he will be the first such bureaucrat to quit in nearly two decades.The decision to shift Garg to the power ministry is seen as being abrupt, primarily because the finance ministry bureaucrat was closely and personally involved with several government initiatives that will come to fruition in the next few months.This includes the Narendra Modi government’s first-ever sovereign bond issue expected in October 2019, a strong stance in the battle with the RBI over appropriating its reserves, and dealing with the after-effects of the Budget 2019 on India’s financial markets.Although Garg’s new position in the power ministry comes with the same salary and perks, it is widely seen as a demotion. Typically, a finance secretary is moved to another North Block post, such as the home ministry or defence ministry. Most of the times, upon retirement, key finance ministry bureaucrats are given given a plum constitutional posting in the Election Commission, Finance Commission or the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG). The last time a top finance ministry bureaucrat was shifted to a non-’Raisina Hill’ post was in 2014, when Arvind Mayaram, who had been serving as the economic affairs secretary since 2012, was shunted out to the minority affairs ministry just five months after Prime Minister Narendra Modi took charge. In a tweet put out on Thursday evening, Garg confirmed that he had applied for voluntary retirement and had given notice for the same.Handed over charge of Economic Affairs today. Learnt so much in the Finance Ministry and Economic Affairs Dept. Will take charge in Power Ministry tomorrow. Have also applied for Voluntary Retirement from the IAS with effect from 31st October. Last tweet from this handle.— Subhash Chandra Garg (@SecretaryDEA) July 25, 2019Business Standard adds:On Wednesday, an official notification revealed that as part of the first senior bureaucratic reshuffle in the Modi government’s second term, Garg was transferred to the post of power secretary. Atanu Chakraborty, who is currently secretary of department of investment and public asset management, will take over as the economic affairs secretary.There are various rules governing voluntary retirement of a central government official. Under Rule 48, a government servant can apply for voluntary retirement after completion of 30 years of service. This is the rule likely to pertain to Garg.Existing rules allow a service member to retire before attaining a age of 60 years, after giving three months’ notice in writing to the state government concerned (the cadre which he or she is a part of), on the date on which he or she completes 20 years of qualifying service or any date thereafter to be specified in such requests.The notification formalising the first major bureaucratic reshuffle on Wednesday evening was a surprise. However, that Garg would be moved out of North Block, wasn’t. In fact, the buzz on his departure had been gaining traction in bureaucratic circles for a few months now. Owing to a number of factors, Garg – a 1983 batch Rajasthan cadre officer – was seen as one of the most powerful finance secretaries in recent times.