AMARAVATI: Indian Administrative Service officer of the 1990 batch, K S Jawahar Reddy, was on Tuesday appointed as the Chief Secretary of Andhra Pradesh.
He will replace 1985-batch officer Sameer Sharma, who will retire on November 30 at the end of his one-year extended service, according to an order issued by Principal Secretary, General Administration Department (Political).
Jawahar Reddy is currently serving as Special Chief Secretary to the Chief Minister.
He will be in service till June 30, 2024.
Jawahar Reddy earlier worked as Secretary to the Chief Minister in the then united AP under N Kiran Kumar Reddy.
Some of his earlier stints included Collector and District Magistrate of Srikakulam and East Godavari districts, Principal Secretary Panchayat Raj and Rural Development, Principal Secretary Health and Executive Officer of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams.
In February this year, he was appointed as the Special Chief Secretary to CM.
Poonam Malakondaiah, two years senior to Jawahar Reddy, has been appointed as the Special Chief Secretary to CM.
In fact, Poonam was a strong contender for the Chief Secretary post and even made her case to the Chief Minister saying she should not be made to work under a junior officer.
As a compromise, she was brought into the CMO, top bureaucratic sources said.
“It is a well-known fact that the Special CS to CM wields the real power than the state Chief Secretary. So she will be the power centre though her junior will be heading the state bureaucracy,” the sources averred.
