Punjab Government on Monday appointed 1993-batch IAS officer Anurag Verma as the state’s new Chief Secretary, superseding 11 officers — out of which seven are serving in the state, while four are currently on central deputation.
Verma, who is presently holding the charge of Additional Chief Secretary of the Home and Justice Department, would replace 1989-batch IAS officer Vijay Kumar Janjua who is superannuating on June 30. The government has also issued formal orders to this effect on Monday. However, the orders would come into effect from July 1, 2023, when Verma would assume charge as the new incumbent in place of Janjua.
As per the information available, Janjua is expected to get a favorable posting in the State Government after his retirement. Notably, Janjua has recently applied for the post of the chairman of Punjab Public Service Commission (PPSC), and is likely to be assigned the post-retirement assignment.
Earlier, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) led Punjab Government has been making attempts to retain Janjua as the chief secretary. For the same, the State Government has also written to the Central Government seeking Janjua’s extension of service beyond June 30. However, the Centre has not responded to the state’s request even after the lapse of more than three months.
Among the 11 IAS officers, senior to Verma, seven are serving the state, including 1990-batch officers Anirudh Tewari and Anurag Agarwal, 1991-batch officers A Venu Prasad and Seema Jain, 1992-batch officers Sarvjit Singh, Raji P Shrivastava, and KAP Sinha. They all will be designated as Special Chief Secretary.
Besides, four other officers are currently on central deputation, including 1987-batch IAS officer Vini Mahajan, 1988-batch officers Ravneet Kaur and Anjali Bhawra, and 1990-batch officer Vijoy Kumar Singh. Vini Mahajan and Anirudh Tewari have earlier already served as Chief Secretary of the state under the Congress regime. Venu Prasad, who is currently working as the Additional Chief Secretary to Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, is also superannuating on July 31.
Verma would be the 42nd incumbent to serve on the prestigious post of the state Chief Secretary. Apart from holding the charge of Additional Chief Secretary Home as of now, Verma is also handling the departments of Industries and Commerce, Legal and Legislative Affairs, Information Technology and Investment Promotion. As per the new orders, Verma would also hold the additional charge of Principal Secretary (Personnel) as well as Vigilance, along with the Chief Secretary.
Verma was born in a family of academicians at Patiala with his father having served as the Professor of Chemistry and his mother as English teacher. Hailing from Chalela village in Patiala district, Verma is a Gold Medalist from prestigious Thapar College, Patiala, in Electronics and Communication Engineering. He had bagged overall seventh rank in the UPSC Civil Services Examination in 1993.
After rendering excellent and efficient services as Deputy Commissioner of Bathinda, Ludhiana, and Jalandhar districts during the field posting, Verma also excelled while discharging his duty in various departments at the Head Office.
As Special Secretary Revenue, he took the exceptional initiative of computerization of revenue land records and introduction of Fard Kendras in the state. He also played an important role in increasing the revenue due to his efficiency and hard-working nature while serving as Excise and Taxation Commissioner, making tax payment easy and transparent for people being his crowning achievements.
While serving as the Finance Commissioner for Rural Development and Panchayat, he implemented the MGNREGA scheme effectively at the ground level. Not stopping at this, he created a healthy sporting environment by getting constructed playgrounds and sports parks in more than 1000 villages of the state.
Assuring to discharge the responsibility assigned by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann with due diligence and devotion, Verma on Monday said that implementation of people-friendly initiatives commenced by the State Government at the grassroots level will be his top priority. He said that along with the outstanding work being done by the State Government in the health, education sector, and the transparent and better citizen-centric services being provided to the residents of the State will be continued in a more effective manner.
