Sudhir Krishna may be Karnataka chief secy

The Karnataka Government has started searching for a new chief secretary as incumbent S V Ranganath retires by month-end. It is learnt that 1977 batch Karnataka cadre officer Sudhir Krishna, currently Secretary to the Union Ministry of Urban Development, is the front-runner for the top post.

Krishna, who reportedly met Chief Minister Siddaramaiah recently, has agreed to return to his parent cadre as chief secretary.

Siddaramaiah is keen on appointing an officer who has served the Government of India for long as it may be beneficial to the state.

He prefers Krishna for the top post considering his long stint at the Centre, sources told Deccan Herald.

Krishna has over 13 years’ experience at the Centre. He was joint secretary to the Ministry of Finance and also additional secretary to the Ministry of Panchayat Raj. Krishna, who holds PhD in federalism from New Delhi’s Jamia Hamdard University, will retire in June 2014.

The other senior officers in the race for the top post are L V Nagarajan, Arvind Jadhav and Kaushik Mukherjee. All of them hold the rank of additional chief secretary and are serving various posts in the Karnataka Government.

 Jadhav, a 1978 batch officer, retires in 2016. His batch mate Mukherjee will retire in 2015. Nagarajan of the 1979 batch will reach superannuation in 2015.

Ranganath, who was due to retire on April 30, got a two-month extension after the Election Commission of India sought his tenure extended till June 30 to ensure smooth sailing of the administration during the poll period in the state.