Rajiv Kumar takes over as UP chief secretary; 44 IAS transferred

Lucknow: Senior IAS officer Rajiv Kumar on Thursday took over as the new chief secretary of Uttar Pradesh as the Yogi Adityanath government carried out a major bureaucratic reshuffle involving 44 IAS officers.

A 1981-batch IAS officer, Kumar, who was repatriated by the Centre to his cadre state - Uttar Pradesh - before the completion of his tenure as Union shipping secretary, took over from Rahul Bhatnagar.

Bhatnagar has been shifted to Greater Noida as chairman, with additional charge as investment commissioner of Uttar Pradesh in New Delhi.

He was continuing as UP's top bureaucrat from the days of the previous Samajwadi Party government and the appointment of a new chief secretary was expected after the BJP stormed to power in Uttar Pradesh.

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) had last week approved Kumar's premature repatriation to his cadre.

In his previous stint in Uttar Pradesh, Kumar was a principal secretary holding important posts.

He went on central deputation during the previous SP government and was appointed secretary, Ministry of Shipping, in 2014. Kumar had also been given the additional charge of principal resident commissioner of Uttar Pradesh in New Delhi.

Soon after assuming office, Kumar said his main task would be to "speed up the work in the priority areas identified by the chief minister".

The UP government also effected a major bureaucratic shake-up today.

Commissioner, Meerut, Prabhat Kumar has been divested of the additional charge of chairman, Greater Noida, a post that has gone to Bhatnagar.

Kumar, however, will continue as chairman of the Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (YEIDA), Gautam Budh Nagar.

Resident commissioner of UP in New Delhi and CEO, Greater Noida, Devashish Panda has been divested of the additional charge of investment commissioner, UP in New Delhi, another post that has been given to Bhatnagar.

Another senior IAS officer, who recently returned to his parent cadre from the Centre, Sanjay Bhoosreddy has been made principal secretary, sugar industry and cane development. He has been given additional charge as cane commissioner.

In the reshuffle today, the government also posted some IAS officers who held key positions during the previous Akhilesh Yadav government and were waiting for a posting after being shunted out soon after Adityanath assumed office on March 19.

Senior IAS officer Navneet Sehgal has been made principal secretary, khadi and gramodyog, and Gurdeep Singh has been made member, revenue board, while Amit Kumar Ghosh has been appointed as secretary, backward caste welfare board.

Another senior officer Rama Raman has been posted as secretary and director of the handicraft and textile industry at Kanpur, an official spokesman said.

Another senior officer Anita Singh, who wielded enormous clout in the previous regime, and was waiting for posting, has been made principal secretary, samagra gram vikas department, while Dimple Verma has become the principal secretary, externally-funded projects department.

The spokesman said that Satyendra Singh has been made special secretary, national integration department, and Vijay Kumar Yadav posted as special secretary, divyang empowerment department.