PATNA: Deepak Kumar, a Bihar cadre IAS officer of 1984 batch, is likely to be the state’s next chief secretary as the incumbent, Anjani Kumar Singh, is retiring on May 31.
Kumar, who was on central deputation since January 2015, relinquished charge as the chairman of National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) on Thursday, will have a tenure of 21 months. He shares an excellent good rapport with Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and, according to sources, he readily agreed to take up the top post in the state bureaucracy when the CM showed interest in him.
Deepak Kumar, who holds a BTech degree in civil engineering from IIT-New Delhi, has earlier served as the Bihar CM’s principal secretary.
Anjani Kumar Singh, an IAS officer of 1982 batch, was given a three-month extension from his scheduled date of retirement in February. He was appointed as chief secretary on June 25, 2014 by then CM Jitan Ram Manjhi.
Sources said Singh, who served as Nitish Kumar’s principal secretary for two years, is likely to be given an important assignment in an advisory role.