Hyderabad, December 30: Senior bureaucrat SV Prasad will, in all likelihood, take over as Chief Secretary to the State Government.
A formal decision is expected on Wednesday but indications from the government are that Prasad’s name for the top bureaucratic post has been finalised. Prasad will succeed P Ramakanth Reddy, who is already on an extension and is due to demit office on December 31.
A 1975 batch officer, who started his career as a sub-collector at Gudur in Nellore district, Prasad is one of the most respected bureaucrats in the State. An alumnus of the Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad, he is known for his grip over administrative matters as well as his sound knowledge of political affairs of the State. Prasad has set a record of sorts as the only officer in the country to have served as secretary or principal secretary to the chief minister for more than a decade. He was equally at ease with Congress chief ministers N Janardhan Reddy and K Vijayabhaskar Reddy and Telugu Desam’s N Chandrababu Naidu.
Though there are a couple of IAS officers senior to Prasad, the government opted for him as the others are due to retire in less than a year. Prasad still has a couple of years of service.
–_Agecnies