Additional chief secretary Om Prakash will be the next chief secretary of Uttarakhand. An order to this effect was issued on Thursday a day ahead of the retirement of the current chief secretary Utpal Kumar Singh.

An officer of the 1987 batch of Uttarakhand cadre, Prakash has worked in various positions in undivided Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

 His appointment to the top bureaucratic post in the state has put an end to speculation which was continuing about the choice of chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat for the post.

Meanwhile, the state government also reshuffled the responsibilities of eight IAS officers and five PCS officers.

Udham Singh Nagar district magistrate Neeraj Khairwal has been made additional secretary to the CM, energy and UPCL managing director while Bageshwar district magistrate Ranjana has been made the district magistrate of Udham Singh Nagar.

Nainital chief development officer (CDO) Vineet Kumar has been made the Bageshwar district magistrate.

Sonika has been relieved of her post as civil aviation additional secretary and UCADA CEO with Uttarkashi district magistrate Ashish Kumar Chauhan being transferred to these positions.

Udham Singh Nagar CDO Mayur Dikshit has been made the Uttarkashi district magistrate while Haridwar municipal commissioner holding the additional charge of additional Mela officer, Narendra Singh Bhandari has been made the Nainital CDO.

Pauri CDO Himanshu Khurana has been made the Udham Singh Nagar CDO while UCADA ACEO and UTDB director Ashish Bhatgai has been made the Pauri CDO.

NC Durgapal has been made the Udham Singh Nagar deputy collector while Haridwar deputy collector holding additional charge of SIIDCUL regional manager, Kusum Chauhan has been made the Dehradun city magistrate.

MDDA secretary Sundar Lal Semwal has been transferred to the post of Tehri district level development authority secretary while Almora deputy collector Abhay Pratap has been made the Pithoragarh deputy collector.