Jaipur: Senior IAS officer V. Srinivas of the Rajasthan cadre is set to become the state’s new Chief Secretary. Although the official appointment order has not yet been issued by the state government, his elevation is all but confirmed. The Centre has already relieved Srinivas from his deputation in Delhi, allowing him to return to Rajasthan and assume the top bureaucratic position.
Formal Order Only Pending
The Chief Secretary is officially appointed by the state government. The current Chief Secretary, Sudhansh Pant, has not yet been relieved, so the official order for Srinivas is still pending. Srinivas, a senior IAS officer, has spent nearly four years on central deputation. With the Centre’s orders to relieve him from Delhi, it is clear that he is being entrusted with a major responsibility in Rajasthan. His seniority and extensive experience make him the obvious choice for the state’s top bureaucratic post. Reports indicate that Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma has already met Srinivas at Jodhpur House in Delhi, and only the formal order remains.
Second in Seniority
V. Srinivas is the second-most senior IAS officer in the Rajasthan cadre, from the 1989 batch. The senior-most officer, Subodh Agrawal (1988 batch), is not being considered for the post due to two factors: he is retiring next month, and he faces serious allegations of corruption related to a multi-crore water management scam during the previous Congress government. Agrawal’s office and residence have also been raided by the ED.
Experience Under Prime Ministers Rao and Vajpayee
V. Srinivas has strong political and administrative connections. He is related by marriage to former Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao, as his wife is Rao’s granddaughter. Srinivas has held key positions under successive central governments. During Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s tenure, he served as the Private Secretary to then-Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh and later as Technical Assistant to India’s Executive Director at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Washington, D.C.
Long Service in Central Deputation
Originally from Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, Srinivas began his IAS career in 1992 and served as Collector in Pali and Jodhpur. Between 2001 and 2003, he was on central deputation, and from September 2003 to October 2006, he worked at the IMF in Washington. From 2013 to 2017, he again served in central postings, with a brief stint in Rajasthan before returning to central deputation in December 2018. Now, the Centre has directed him to serve in Rajasthan, paving the way for his appointment as Chief Secretary.
With his extensive administrative experience and seniority, V. Srinivas is expected to bring strong leadership to Rajasthan’s bureaucracy.
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