HYDERABAD: In a surprise move, the State government transferred special chief secretary (planning) BP Acharya from the planning department on Thursday and posted him as director-general of MCR HRD Institute and principal secretary (finance) K Ramakrishna Rao was given full additional charge of the planning department.
Acharya was on the top of the seniority list in the state-cadre IAS officers. Chief secretary SP Singh will retire on January 31 and the government has to appoint a new chief secretary in his place. After BP Acharya, the second in the seniority list is Rajiv Ranjan Acharya, special chief secretary (education), who will retire in four months. The third senior-most officer Binay Kumar is on central deputation and is unlikely to come back to state services. The fourth one in the seniority list and special chief secretary (irrigation) SK Joshi’s name has been doing rounds for post of the new chief secretary.