VIJAYAWADA: For senior IAS officer Ajeya Kallam, his appointment as the Chief Secretary must have come as a sugar-coated pill.
With the centre turning down the state’s plea for extension of his service beyond March 31, he has only one month left to work as the CS.
The state government, by issuing orders appointing Dinesh Kumar, who is special chief secretary Housing and Rural Development, as the next chief secretary, has snuffed all hopes for Kallam, who is special chief secretary Finance, may have harboured for an extension of service.
With the tenure of the incumbent Chief Secretary SP Tucker coming to an end by Tuesday, the state government issued orders appointing Kallam as his successor.
Some officials, however, say that the state government had tried its best to secure extension for Kallam but the Centre turned down its request.
However, there are also some officials who do not subscribe to this view say if the government really wanted Kallam for more than a month, it would not have announced his successor’s name a month in advance.