Rajeev Ranjan is new TN Chief Secretary
CHENNAI: Senior IAS officer Dr Rajeev Ranjan was on Sunday appointed as the 47th Chief Secretary replacing K Shanmugam following his retirement.
The order issued by the State government stated that Rajeev Ranjan, Secretary, Department of Fisheries, Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairy who was transferred to his parent cadre TN on request of the government, will replace Shanmugam as Chief Secretary. He will assume charge on Monday.
Shanmugam assumed office on June 30, 2019, and was set to retire in July last year, but due to the pandemic, his service tenure was extended twice by the Central government for six months till January 31. However, when the State government sought another extension for six months in December last year, the Centre refused it.
Ranjan, a 1985 batch IAS officer, was born in 1961 in Bihar and completed his MBA from IIM, Ahmedabad. He completed his post graduate degree on Public Policy from London School of Economics and Political Science followed by a PhD from Anna University on Management.
He has served in various departments from 1989 under various positions. In 2018, he opted for central services and was initially appointed in the Finance Department following which he was posted as Secretary of Union Fisheries Department.
Meanwhile, the State government, on Sunday, issued orders to appoint Shanmugam as the adviser to the government for a year. The Adviser post will be on a par with the rank of Chief Secretary. Former Chief Secretary Sheela Balakrishnan, after her retirement in 2015, was appointed as adviser for a year till 2016.