16 February,2022 08:34 AM IST | Mumbai | A Correspondent
Chief Secretary of Maharashtra Debashish Chakrabarty. File pic
The state was expected to have a full-time chief secretary (CS) after the retirement of acting CS Debashish Chakrabarty on February 28, but the government on Tuesday sprang a surprise by giving him a permanent charge of the office with retrospective effect from November 30, 2021.
The order, issued by Additional Chief Secretary (personnel) Sujata Saunik, stated that Chakrabarty was regularised in the office of CS by the order of Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray. He has been given the additional charge of the planning commission.
The move is likely to pave the way for Chakrabarty's extension, at least by three months after his superannuation. And if the Centre doesn't approve of his extension as was done in the case of his predecessor Sitaram Kunte, Chakrabarty will retire with the satisfaction of working in the top administrative office.
According to the seniority list, Chakrabarty's batch mate Manu Kumar Srivastava of the 1986 IAS batch, and Sujata Saunik, Ashwini Kumar and Manoj Saunik, all of 1987 IAS batch, are in the race for the top job.
