Jaipur: Rajasthan has appointed senior IAS officer V Srinivas as the state’s new Chief Secretary, marking his return from a long central deputation. The appointment order was issued on Sunday after Sudhansh Pant was relieved to take up his role at the Centre.

Srinivas, a 1989-batch officer, was serving in the Union government as Secretary, Pensions and Pensioners’ Welfare. He was relieved by the Centre on 14 November and will now take charge in Rajasthan, continuing in the post until his scheduled retirement in September 2026.

Along with the role of Chief Secretary, he has been given additional responsibilities as Chairman of Rajasthan State Mines and Minerals Ltd and Principal Resident Commissioner, Rajasthan, in New Delhi. Officials indicated that a wider administrative reshuffle is expected in the coming days.

Srinivas has superseded only one officer in the seniority list. He is currently the second-most senior IAS officer in the cadre, after Subodh Agarwal of the 1988 batch, who retires in December as Chairman of Rajasthan Financial Corporation. From next month, Srinivas will be the senior-most civil servant in the state.

A widely experienced administrator, Srinivas began his career as Sub-Divisional Officer, Bhilwara in 1989 and later served as SDO, Nimbahera. Between 1995 and 1998, he headed the Watershed Development and Soil Conservation Department. He has also held the positions of Collector in Pali and Jodhpur.

During the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led NDA government, he worked as Private Secretary to then External Affairs and Finance Minister Jaswant Singh. He later moved to Washington DC as the Technical Assistant to India’s Executive Director at the International Monetary Fund. Much of his career has been spent on central deputation.

BI Bureau