The biggest changes are in the Finance Ministry where both the top officials, Finance Secretary Montek Singh Ahluwalia and Revenue Secretary N K Singh, were moved out but simultaneously given a leg-up: Ahluwalia is now Member Planning Commission -- the first one to be appointed by the Vajpayee Government -- and Singh, who headed Jayalalitha's hit list, is Secretary in the Prime Minister's Office.

The new Finance Secretary is Vijay Kelkar while Javed Chaudhry has been appointed Revenue Secretary. Kelkar is considered the chief architect of the reforms in the petroleum sector. He supervised the dismantling of the administered price mechanism of petroleum prices. His appointment is being seen as an indication that the Vajpayee Government intends to speed up the process of economicreforms.

Chaudhry formerly headed the Enforcement Directorate and was described by PMO sources as ``a tough officer.'' As Revenue Secretary, he will oversee the functioning of the ED. Although there were some indications from Chennai -- after the second George Fernandes-Jayalalitha meeting -- that she would not pull the rug in a hurry, the Government seems to have decided to send a political signal with this massive reshuffle. After being pilloried by its supporters, particularly its own workers, for pussyfooting through its first four months, the leadership has

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