P K Sinha is next Cabinet secy

Power secretary Pradeep Kumar Sinha was on Friday chosen by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to become the next cabinet secretary after incumbent Ajit Seth demits the most powerful bureaucratic post, having served for two years beyond the fixed tenure. 

Sinha, 59, will replace Seth – both UP cadre IAS officers – after the latter retires on June 13. Sinha may also be appointed Officer on Special Duty (OSD) in the Cabinet Secretariat with effect from the date of assumption of charge, till June 12, 2015, an official statement said.

A 1977 batch IAS officer, Sinha has been serving as power secretary since July 2013. He brings with him varied experience, having worked in energy and infrastructure ministries in middle and senior levels besides managing politically sensitive districts in his parent cadre state of Uttar Pradesh.

 At the Centre, he worked as secretary in the ministry of Shipping and as special secretary and financial adviser in the ministry of petroleum and natural gas. He was also commissioner in Modi’s Lok Sabha constituency of Varanasi, District Magistrate of Agra and Jaunpur before graduating to the post of secretary planning in the state.

He will become the 31st cabinet secretary of the country and enjoy a fixed two-year tenure, which may be extended by the Centre as in the case of Seth.