Senior bureaucrat Adityanath Das is the new Chief Secretary of Andhra Pradesh

Vijayawada: The Andhra Pradesh government appointed Adityanath Das as the new chief secretary on 22 December. The current chief secretary, Nilam Sawhney, is set to retire on 31 December.

Ms. Sawhney has received two extensions as chief secretary since July. She was set to retire on 30 June this year. The Centre had granted the extensions following a request from Chief Minister Y.S Jagan Mohan Reddy. Initially, she was given a three-month extension and subsequently granted another three months which will end on 31 December.

Adityanath Das, a JNU alumni, is a 1987-batch IAS officer. He has been serving as special chief secretary (water resources) since Jagan took over the reins of the state in May 2019. Mr. Das has initiated several irrigation projects, particularly in the Rayalaseema region, besides expediting the Polavaram project. Apart from the appointment of the new CS, the government also issued posting and transfers of IAS officers in the state.

Senior IAS officer and former secretary of AP industries department Y. Srilakshmi has been appointed the secretary of the municipal administration and urban development department. It must be noted that Srilakshmi is the sixth accused in the CBI's illegal mining case pertaining to mining baron Gali Janardhan Reddy's Obulapuram Mining Company.

Meanwhile, J. Syamala Rao will assume the charge of the post of the secretary of the water resources department after Mr. Das who had earlier held the post assumes charge of chief secretary on 31 December.

K. Sunitha, secretary (IF and resource mobilisation), finance department and in-charge of new revenue-generating projects taken up by different departments within the finance department, has been transferred and posted as secretary of social welfare department, relieving Budithi Rajsekhar from the full additional charge. Sunitha has also been placed in full additional charge of the post of VC and MD of the AP Scheduled Castes Coop.