CHANDIGARH: The AAP government in Punjab on Monday appointed 1993-batch IAS officer Anurag Verma as new chief secretary with effect from July 1. Verma, who superseded 11 officers senior to him, would be the 42nd chief secretary of the state.
Presently additional chief secretary of home and justice department, Verma succeeds 1989-batch IAS officer Vijay Kumar Janjua, who retires on June 30. The central government has not approved Janjua's extension of service beyond June 30 and he is likely to be adjusted after retirement as chairman of the Punjab Public Service Commission (PPSC) as he has already applied for the post.
The state government is yet to finalise the name of IAS officer for the post of principal secretary or additional chief secretary of home affairs and justice department.
The new chief secretary would also hold the additional charge of principal secretary personnel as well as vigilance and would retire on July 31, 2029.
Born to academician parents and a native of Chalela village in Patiala district, Verma is a gold medallist from Thapar College, Patiala, in electronics and communication engineering. He bagged overall 7th rank in the Union Public Service Commission civil services examination in 1993. He has served as the deputy commissioner of Bathinda, Ludhiana and Jalandhar districts.
Verma said on Monday that implementation of people-friendly initiatives commenced by the state government at the grassroots level will be his top priority and all-round development of the state will be ensured.
Of the 11 IAS officers he supersedes, seven are serving in the state and four are on central deputation at present. From July 1, seven IAS officers senior to Verma and serving in Punjab - 1990-batch officers Anirudh Tewari and Anurag Agarwal, 1991-batch officers A Venu Prasad and Seema Jain, 1992-batch officers Sarvjit Singh, Raji P Shrivastava and KAP Sinha - shall be designated as special chief secretary.
The 1987-batch IAS officer Vinni Mahajan, 1988-batch officers Ravneet Kaur and Anjali Bhawra, and 1990-batch officer Vijoy Kumar Singh are on central deputation. Mahajan and Tewari have already served as the chief secretary of the state under the Congress regime. Prasad, who is presently working as additional chief secretary to chief minister Bhagwant Mann, would be superannuating on July 31.
Though Ravneet Kaur was to superannuate this year on October 31, she has already been appointed by the central government as the chairperson of the Competition Commission of India for a term of five years.
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