Neelam Sawhney for AP CS

Senior bureaucrat Neelam Sawhney would become Chief Secretary of Andhra Pradesh, sources indicate. A 1984 batch officer, she is secretary of social empowerment and Justice at the Centre. After the ousted chief secretary L.V. Subrahmanyam, she is second in the seniority list after Ms Preeti Sudan, who is reportedly unwilling to return to the state from Central service.

Sources said that Ms Sawhney met Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy at his residence on Monday and discussed the new assignment. She reportedly conveyed her willingness to return to state service when Mr Reddy met bureaucrats of the state cadre at the AP Bhavan in New Delhi immediately after taking over as Chief Minister.

Though another bureaucrat, Mr Sameer Sarma, who is also serving at the centre and is posted in New Delhi showed keenness, the Chief Minister preferred Ms Sawhney, sources said. The Centre has to relieve Ms Sawhney for her to be able to take the top post.

Ms Sawhney comes with the reputation of being a straight forward officer. She was among a set of bureaucrats who played a commendable role in implementing pet schemes of thethen CM N Chandrababu Naidu. A section of the vernacular media raked up a controversy when she went on leave during the Y S Rajasekhar Reddy regime.

She was serving as secretary, roads and muildings, and applied for leave during the process of the construction of a new camp office and CM’s official residence at Begumpet in Hyderabad. The escalated estimates of work and selection of contractors became controversial.

She avoided controversy because of her absence from work during that time.