Kunte retires as Maharashtra chief secy, Debashish Chakrabarty takes additional charge

Minutes after retiring, Kunte was appointed by the MVA government as principal advisor to the chief minister --- a post that fell vacant with the resignation of Ajoy Mehta, who became the RERA chief.

Sitaram Kunte (Right), an IAS officer of 1985 batch, had worked as municipal commissioner of Mumbai and as head of planning, general administration department, finance and environment.

Sitaram Kunte retired as chief secretary of Maharashtra on Tuesday after the Centre declined to give him an extension, which the state government had proposed.

Minutes after retiring, Kunte was appointed by the MVA government as principal advisor to the chief minister — a post that fell vacant with the resignation of Ajoy Mehta, who became the RERA chief.

Additional charge of chief secretary was given to Additional Chief Secretary (Planning) Debashish Chakrabarty, who is from the 1986 batch of IAS and will retire in three months.

Story continues below this ad

Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray had sought a six-month extension for Kunte.

Kunte, an IAS officer of 1985 batch, had worked as municipal commissioner of Mumbai and as head of planning, general administration department, finance and environment.

IAS officers Manukumar Srivastava of 1986 batch and Sujata Saunik and Manoj Saunik of 1987 batch are strong contenders for the chief secretary’s post. Chakrabarty is due to retire in February 2022. Two other IAS officers — Shamal Goyal and Vandana Krishna of 1985 batch — will retire in December 2021 and February 2022.

Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram

Tags:
Mumbai