IAS Sanjay Kumar appointed Mahastahtra Chief Secretary; Predecessor to be Uddhav's Advisor

Maharashtra Government on Wednesday appointed IAS officer Sanjay Kumar as the new Chief Secretary in the state. Sanjay Kumar who is a senior bureaucrat from the 1984 batch of the IAS succeeds incumbent Chief Secretary Ajoy Mehta who is set to retire on June 30. Previously Sanjay Kumar was heading the position of Additional Chief Secretary in the Home department. 

Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh tweeted to congratulate Sanjay Kumar for assuming the new post, wishing him the best for his tenure. 

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The news of Kumar's appointment comes amid speculations of Ajoy Mehta getting an extension as the Chief Secretary of state. His extension this year would have been a hat-trick since the senior bureaucrat who hails from the 1983 batch has received an extension by the Maharashtra government twice earlier. 

However, all speculations were put to rest after the Maharashtra Government put forward the name of IAS Sanjay Kumar who will take over on the post replacing Mehta. In addition to this Kumar will continue holding the post of the Additional Chief Secretary till his term ends on February 28, 2021.

Ajoy Mehta, on the other hand, would now serve as the Principal Advisor to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray. According to an official statement, the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) requires Mehta's "expertise in the backdrop of the health and financial crisis owing to the COVID virus."

Mehta who was previously supposed to retire in September 2019, was given an extension of nine months which ends of June 30. He would now be given a new office in the CM’s secretariat as the principal advisor. 

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