CM bids Kuntia farewell

 Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday bid farewell to Chief Secretary Subhash Chandra Kuntia, who is retiring on November 30.  

In a farewell ceremony organised at the chief minister's official residence Krishna, Siddaramaiah felicitated Kuntia with a Mysore peta, shawl and a silver plaque.

Kuntia who took charge as the chief secretary on October 1, 2016 is a 1981 batch officer, who was hand picked by Siddaramaiah given his "clean" records.

With Kuntia's retirement, Additional Chief Secretary Ratna Prabha is tipped to be the next chief secretary owing to her seniority, though other IAS officers including T M Vijay Bhaskar and S K Pattanaik are also in the race for the top post.