UP: Chief Secy Mishra may get extension

Lucknow: The corridors of UP’s bureaucracy are abuzz with the question as to who will be the next Chief Secretary of the state as the present Chief Secretary — Durga Shankar Mishra — is retiring on December 30 (Friday).

Durga Shankar Mishra, country’s most senior IAS officer of 1984 batch, is counted among the most trusted officers of PM Narendra Modi. Before the UP assembly elections, a big change was brought in the state bureaucracy, replacing IAS Rajendra Kumar Tiwari. The decision was taken by the central government to make Durga Shankar Mishra as the Chief Secretary of UP, giving extension of service for one year.

Notably, after Mishra, IAS Rajendra Tiwari is the second most senior officer of the state who is currently serving as chairman UPSRTC and whose retirement is in February 2023!

The third name is 1985 batch IAS Shalini Prasad who is also retiring in December 2022. The fourth name is 1987 batch IAS Arun Singhal who is posted in the center and he will retire in May 2025. State’s fifth most senior IAS officer Mahesh Kumar Gupta is 1987 batch officer serving currently as ACS Energy whose retirement is to be in May 2024.

Along with this, the names of 1987 batch IAS Sanjeev Kumar Mittal, Chairman Board of Revenue and 1988 batch Alok Kumar, Secretary, Ministry of Energy, New Delhi, as well as 1988 batch IAS Manoj Kumar Singh, are suddenly being discussed in the corridors of the bureaucracy.

If sources are to be believed then UP Chief Secretary Mishra may get another service extension as in view of 2024 Lok Sabha elections MIshra has proved to be extremely successful in making all the big schemes of the Center accessible to the public. He is considered to be a very hardworking and honest officer with a good hold in the bureaucracy in both center and state. Along with this, he will play an important role in the Global Investors Summit and G20 to be held in the year 2023.

Most of the senior officers of the state government are close to retirement while few are posted on central deputation. In such a situation the decision has to be taken by the center in which the most trusted officer Durga Shankar Mishra fits perfectly.