Durga Shankar Mishra is new Chief Secy of UP

New Delhi: With a focus on conducting upcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections "seamlessly", the government on Wednesday appointed 1984-batch UP cadre IAS Durga Shankar Mishra as the Chief Secretary of the state. With his appointment, it's clear that the government 'wants' to conduct the crucial UP Assembly elections under the 'administrative control' of Mishra.

Presently, he is Secretary in the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs and is acknowledged for expediting Metro projects in different states, including Uttar Pradesh. Mishra is also the Chairman of Delhi Metro Rail Corporation and the president of the IAS Association.

The DoPT, in its order, said: "The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved repatriation of Durga Shankar Mishra, lAS (UP: 1984) to his cadre for his proposed appointment as Chief Secretary of Uttar Pradesh by the state government of Uttar Pradesh."

"As per the DoPT appointment procedures, when a senior bureaucrat is appointed for the top post of state just before a few days of his superannuation, then the respective state government has to send a request to the DoPT for the extension of the service of the concerned officer," a senior official said, adding that the officers of Chief Secretary-level generally gets extension for six months, which may be extended for further few months.

Notably, the incumbent Chief Secretary Rajendra Kumar Tiwari is a 1985-batch officer of UP cadre and he has over a year of service left prior to superannuation. As per official sources, Tiwari is likely to be sent to the Central deputation.

The Chief Secretary is the top executive officer of a state and acts as the principal advisor to the state government on all matters of administration.