Anil Chandra Punetha is now the new Chief Secretary of Andhra Pradesh after the state government on Friday appointed the 1984 batch IAS officer to the post. Anil is expected to take charge on Monday after giving up his present post of the Chief Commissioner of Land Administration (CCLA).
A Government Order (GO) was issued as Chief Secretary Dinesh Kumar is going to retire on September 30. Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and other senior officials of the state government even felicitated Dinesh and thanked him for his efforts, recalling his decades of service.
Naidu took the decision after he returned from a trip to the United States on September 28. Dinesh was appointed to the post last year, after the Centre refused to grant an extension to senior IAS officer Ajeya Kallam, who replaced Satya Prakash Tucker. The Centre turned down the request, citing the case of K Pradeep Chandra in Telangana, who also served as CS for only one month, after being rejected for an extension.
Therefore, the Andhra government also issued an order, which appointed Dinesh Kumar to succeed Kallam from April 1, 2017.
According to media reports, Punetha began his career as the Sub-Collector of Rajampet before going on to serve as District Collector of Srikakulam. He even served as the Principal Secretary of Panchayat Raj and Rural Development.
However, the appointment has not been without controversy as the state government has picked Punetha over Special Chief Secretary LV Subrahmanyam, who was also in the race for the post.
Subrahmanyam, from the 1983 batch, is also the senior most IAS officer in the state
With the appointment of Punetha as the Chief Secretary, the State government had sidelined senior most IAS officer LV Subramanyam, who is currently serving as the Special Chief Secretary (Sports and Youth Affairs) for the coveted post