NEW DELHI: Senior IAS officer Dharmendra has been appointed as Delhi’s new chief secretary, according to the order issued on Saturday by the Ministry of Home Affairs.
Dharmendra, among the senior-most Arunachal Pradesh-Goa-Mizoram and Union Territory (AGMUT) cadre officers, was Arunachal Pradesh chief secretary before being transferred to Delhi.
The 1989-batch officer will take the charge from Naresh Kumar, who was given two extensions in the past. Kumar completed his tenure on August 31.
Dharmendra’s appointment comes at a time when the Delhi legislative assembly elections are less than six months away.
Kumar, who achieved the age of superannuation last November, was at loggerheads with the ruling AAP over a host of issues. The Kejriwal-led party fiercely attacked him and levelled allegations of corruption against him. Reacting to Dharmendra’s appointment, the bureaucrats in the Delhi government asserted that the new chief secretary would need to walk a tightrope and become a crucial link between the AAP and the Lt Governor’s Office.
During his previous stint in the Delhi government, Dharmendra, a civil engineer by training, held various posts, including secretary in revenue.
He had also been the chairman of the NDMC before being transferred to Arunachal Pradesh in 2022. He has also served in the union ministries, housing and urban affairs and consumer affairs, as development commissioner for Dadra and Nagar Haveli/Daman and Diu, and resident commissioner of Aizawl.