Prabodh Saxena is new Chief Secretary of Himachal Pradesh
Shimla, January 1
The government has appointed Prabodh Saxena, a 1990 batch IAS officer, as the new Chief Secretary of the state.
He will replace RD Dhiman, who retired on Saturday, as the top bureaucrat. Dhiman, who took over as Chief Secretary in July, will be sworn in as Chief Information Commissioner on Sunday for a term of three years.
Saxena has been promoted to the top post ahead of five IAS officers senior to him, namely Ram Subhag Singh (1987), Nisha Singh (1987), Ali Raza Rizvi (1988), Sanjay Gupta (1988), K Sanjay Murthy (1989). While Ram Subhag Singh, Nisha Singh, Sanjay Gupta were appointed Principal Advisors when Dhiman was elevated to the post of Chief Secretary in July, Ali Raza Rizvi and K Sanjay Murthy are on deputation in the Centre government.
Born in 1965 in Uttar Pradesh, Saxena is economics6 and law graduate. Till his elevation to the top post from Additional Chief Secretary, he has been the in-charge of Finance, Planning, Economics and Statistics.
The state saw seven Chief Secretaries during the tenure of the last BJP government, namely VC Pharka, BK Aggarwal, Vineet Chowdhary, Shrikant Baldi, Anil Khachi, Ram Subagh Singh and RD Dhiman. Out of these seven, Pharka, Aggarwal, Khachi and Singh did not complete their term, suggesting uneasy equation of the former chief minister Jai Ram Thakur with the top bureaucrats.
