IAS officer of the 1978 batch, Shakuntla Jakhu will be Haryana's new Chief Secretary.
Addressing a news conference after a Cabinet meeting here on Wednesday, Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda said Jakhu will take over from incumbent S C Chaudhary who retires on Thursday.
Jakhu is presently Haryana's Additional Chief Secretary, Revenue and Disaster Management. Second senior most IAS officer in the state, she will have a tenure of just two months as Chief Secretary as she is scheduled to retire on September 30, 2014.
Sanjay Kothari, senior most IAS officer, 1978 batch, is presently posted as Secretary, Department of Administrative Reforms, Public Grievances, Pensions and Pensioners in the Government of India. Kothari is on central deputation since October 16, 2006.
Chaudhary, who superannuates on Thursday after serving Haryana as Chief Secretary for seven months, has been named as Chairman of the Right to Service Commission.
Chaudhary's last days as Chief Secretary were marred by controversy after senior Haryana IAS officer Pradeep Kasni, who red-flagged appointment of new information commissioners by the Hooda government, accused him of sending objectionable SMSes over the issue. Admitting that he had sent the messages, Chaudhary, however, sought to play it down, claiming these were "jokes" between "friends" and expressed regret to the officer if they had hurt his sentiments.
