THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Senior bureaucrat Bishwanath Sinha will assume office as the 51st chief secretary of Kerala next week. The state cabinet on Wednesday decided to appoint the 1992-batch IAS officer as the top bureaucrat, adhering to the principle of seniority in making the selection.
A native of Bihar, Sinha will succeed outgoing Chief Secretary A Jayathilak, who is scheduled to retire on June 30. Currently serving as the Additional Chief Secretary in charge of the Home Department, Sinha has a remaining service tenure that runs until his retirement in September 2028.
The decision-making process narrowed down to Sinha after a few senior officials became unavailable for the role. Other senior IAS officers in line, Manoj Joshi and Rachana Shah, are currently on central deputation and expressed their unwillingness to return to the home cadre.
Additionally, Sanjeev Kaushik, the most senior officer from the 1992 batch, had previously opted out of the race. While K R Jyothilal, a 1993-batch officer currently serving as the Additional Chief Secretary (Finance), was also considered, the government ultimately prioritised seniority and service tenure. Notably, Kaushik still has tenure remaining even after Sinha’s scheduled retirement in 2028.
The appointment also brings renewed attention to a past controversy involving Sinha from a few years ago. In 2019, he faced allegations of inappropriate behaviour toward female IAS officers and trainees, which led the government to reassign him from the prominent General Administration department to a lesser post, after which he went on leave.