IAS officer Neerabh Kumar Prasad appointed Andhra Pradesh chief secretary ahead of Naidu’s swearing-in

The incumbent Chief Secretary, Dr K S Jawahar Reddy, has not yet been given a new posting. Reddy had met Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief N Chandrababu Naidu after the election results were announced, and it was hinted to him that he would be replaced. On Thursday, Reddy went on indefinite medical leave and is set to retire later this month.

Naidu is set to be sworn in as the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh on June 12, after the TDP-led alliance won by a landslide in the recently concluded Assembly elections in the state.

Ahead of his appointment as Chief Secretary, Prasad had also met Naidu Wednesday. On Thursday, Naidu finalised some of the names of officers for the Chief Minister’s Office, and Prasad was picked as the new Chief Secretary.

In October 2020, Prasad was posted as Chief Commissioner of Land Administration. As District Collector of Tirupati in 1998, Prasad had also served as Vice Chairman of Tirupati Urban Development Authority. In November 2019, he was also briefly given additional charge as Chief Secretary during the YSRCP regime, after the then-incumbent L V Subramanyam was transferred suddenly.

Prasad was also the frontrunner for the post of Chief Secretary in 2019, but the Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy government bypassed him and three other senior IAS officers and appointed K S Jawahar Reddy.