Special Secretary in the Ministry for Water Resources, G Mohan Kumar, a 1979 batch Orissa cadre IAS officer, would be the new Secretary in the Ministry of Steel.
Kumar will succeed D R S Chaudhary, who is to superannuate on August 31. He incidentally beat S Machendranathan (a Tamil Nadu cadre IAS officer of the 1979 batch) to the post. Machendranathan, who incidentally was posted in the Steel Ministry as Additional Secretary and Financial Advisor between May 2010 and July 2012, had all along been the sole contender for the Steel Secretary's post as the Steel Ministry itself had recommended his name, sources said. Kumar, who had thrown in his hat in the ring rather late in the day, to everybody's surprise, won the race.
Machendranathan, who is currently Special Secretary and Financial Advisor in the Civil Aviation Ministry, may have lost out to Kumar mainly on account of the fact that his retirement is due in March 2014, whereas the new incumbent in the Steel Ministry would remain in office till May 2015, sources said. Steel Minister Beni Prasad Verma cleared Kumar's name on August 27, sources privy to the development told The Pioneer.
Official orders announcing Kumar's appointment as the new Steel Secretary are expected to be released by morning of August 30. Incidentally even as August 30 being a Friday would be the last working day for Chaudhary, all round suspense prevailed within the Steel Ministry till Thursday evening on who would be the new Secretary.
Officials within the ministry were aware only of Machendranathan's name and Kumar's name came as a surprise for many. Chaudhary, an IAS officer of 1977 batch, belonging to Madhya Pradesh cadre, had taken over as the Steel Secretary in April 2012.