UP CHIEF SECY GETS 6-MONTH EXTENSION

LUCKNOW : UP chief secretary Anup Chandra Pandey has been given a six-month extension by the union government, a state government spokesman said on Wednesday. The 1984-batch officer was handpicked by chief minister Yogi Adityanath to head the state bureaucracy on June 28 last year, two days before the incumbent Rajive Kumar was to retire. A government statement said Pandey was to retire on February 28 but would now hold the post till August 31.

LUCKNOW: Uttar Pradesh chief secretary Anup Chandra Pandey has been given a six-month extension by the union government, a state government spokesman said on Wednesday.

The 1984-batch officer was handpicked by chief minister Yogi Adityanath to head the state bureaucracy on June 28 last year, two days before the incumbent Rajive Kumar was to retire.

A government statement said Pandey was to retire on February 28 but would now hold the post till August 31.

Pandey, who earlier served as additional chief secretary and the Industrial and Infrastructure Development Commissioner, took over as chief secretary in July last year.

He was the director of information during the Kalyan Singh government in 1999 and later served as private secretary to union minister Uma Bharti during the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government.

Pandey is credited for successful implementation of the flagship programmes and schemes of the Yogi Adityanath government, including the investors’ summit.

The Centre invoked the third proviso of Rule 16(1) of the AIS (DRCB) Rules of 1958 to give extension to Pandey after the state government recommended the extension citing the ongoing Kumbh at Prayagraj, the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections and the plea that any change at the top of the state bureaucracy could hamper administrative functioning at this juncture.