Vijai Vardhan is new Haryana chief secretary

Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, September 30

Haryana Government on Wednesday appointed Vijai Vardhan as new state chief secretary.

A 1985 batch IAS officer, Vardhan, who was currently posted as Financial Commissioner Revenue (FCR) and Additional Chief Secretary, Revenue and Disaster Management, succeeds Keshni Anand Arora, who retired on Wednesday. He will have tenure of over one year as chief secretary and will retire on November 30, 2021.

Vardhan is among the most senior officers in Haryana bureaucracy, second only to Sunil Gulati, a 1984 batch IAS officer currently posted as Chairman, Haryana Minerals. He is a well-known name in literary circles and has a couple of books to his credit on Kurukshetra and Pinjore Gardens, besides some published poetry. He is also a noted voice-over artiste for documentaries, theatre performances and social causes.

Meanwhile, Sanjeev Kaushal will replace Vardhan as FCR while Rajeev Arora, ACS(Health), will also hold the charge of ACS(Home).

Alok Nigam, ACS Forests and Wildlife and Medical Education and Research has been given additional charge of Public Works Department.

Devendra Singh, currently holding the charge of ACS, Irrigation and Water Resources and Public Health Engineering, will also hold the charge of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.