NEW DELHI: Aditya Nath Das, an IAS officer of the 1987 batch, has been appointed as the new Chief Secretary of Andhra Pradesh (AP).
He will take over from incumbent Nilam Sawhney, who will retire from service on December 31, a government order said on Tuesday.
A Government Order was also issued appointing Sawhney as Principal Advisor to the Chief Minister, in the rank of a Cabinet Minister, upon her retirement. She will be the second Principal Advisor to the CM with a Cabinet rank.
Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy chose Das for the Chief Secretary post, overlooking five IAS officers of senior batches (1984-86) besides two of Das’s batch mates.
Considered an upright officer, Das is due to retire from service on attaining the age of superannuation on June 30, 2021 but government sources indicated that he too might get extension in service like the incumbent who got an extended tenure of six months in two extended spells.
As Principal Advisor to the Chief Minister, Sawhney, the 1984-batch IAS officer, will look after health and COVID-19 management, Centre-State relations, bifurcation issues, administrative reforms, including the strengthening of Village and Ward Secretariats, and other institutions at various levels in the districts, reorganisation of districts, land resurvey and titling Act, the order said.
Apart from this, she will also take up subjects and projects as allocated by the Chief Minister from time to time, the order added.
Meanwhile, the state government issued an order posting 1988 batch IAS officer Y Srilakshmi as Secretary, Municipal Administration and Urban Development. Srilakshmi reported to AP cadre from Telangana early this month after securing a favourable order from the Central Administrative Tribunal.
The AP government admitted her into the state cadre on December 10, subject to confirmation from the Union Department of Personnel and Training. The DoPT is yet to issue an order over Srilakshmi’s shift to AP cadre from Telangana.
J Syamala Rao (1997), currently the MAUD Secretary, will take over as Secretary of Water Resources Department after Aditya Nath Das assumes charge as Chief Secretary. The government also transferred Finance Secretary K Sunitha and posted her as Social Welfare Secretary.
Source: Press Trust of India
