KK Pant to hold adl charge of HP CS
Shimla, June 1
Himachal Pradesh Government on Monday assigned the additional charge of Chief Secretary to senior IAS officer Kamlesh Kumar Pant following the retirement of Chief Secretary Sanjay Gupta.
According to a notification issued by the Department of Personnel, Governor Shiv Pratap Shukla ordered that Kamlesh Kumar Pant, IAS (HP:1993), shall hold the additional charge of the post of Chief Secretary to the Government of Himachal Pradesh with immediate effect in public interest.
Pant is presently serving as Additional Chief Secretary (Revenue)-cum-Financial Commissioner (Revenue). He is also holding the portfolios of Additional Chief Secretary (Forest, Home and Vigilance) and Chairman of the Himachal Pradesh State Pollution Control Board.
The government order does not specify the duration of the arrangement, indicating that Pant will continue to discharge the responsibilities of Chief Secretary in addition to his existing assignments until further orders.
The development comes barely days after the state government had appointed Sanjay Gupta as regular Chief Secretary. Gupta, a 1988-batch IAS officer, retired from service on May 31, necessitating a fresh administrative arrangement at the highest level of the state bureaucracy.
Pant is considered one of the seniormost officers in the Himachal Pradesh cadre and has handled several key departments during his administrative career. With the latest order, he will now head the state bureaucracy while continuing to oversee important departments including Revenue, Home, Forest and Vigilance.
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The appointment assumes significance as the state government is yet to indicate whether a permanent arrangement for the post of Chief Secretary will be made in the coming days or whether the additional charge will continue for a longer period.
The notification was issued by M. Sudha Devi, Secretary (Personnel) to the Government of Himachal Pradesh, and came into effect immediately.
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