Ex-Odisha DGP, ex-culture secy appointed advisers to governor

The Centre has appointed two retired bureaucrats — Prakash Mishra and Ravindra Singh — as advisers to Uttarakhand Governor KK Paul after President’s Rule was imposed in the state, Raj Bhawan sources said on Monday.

Mishra, a former Odisha director-general of police, and Singh, a former Union culture secretary, are expected to take charge in a day or two to advise the Governor on administrative matters, the sources said.

Mishra, a 1977-batch IPS officer who retired in 2015, was a special secretary (internal security) in the Union home ministry. Appointed as the CRPF (Central Reserve Police Force) director general in 2014, he had headed anti-Maoist operations. Singh, a 1979 UP-cadre IAS officer, worked as the district magistrate of Chamoli (Uttarakhand) in 1987. He retired earlier this year.

According to the President’s Rule notification, the Governor will function with the help of the chief secretary and the two advisors. Senior IAS officer Anand Bardhan was appointed as the Governor’s secretary on Sunday.

The Governor held a meeting of senior officials at the state secretariat on Monday. He later said that the timely completion of works and law and order topped his priority list. “Plans and schemes shall be visible on the ground so that people can sustain their confidence in the administration,” he said.