BENGALURU: The man behind 13 state budgets — Additional Chief Secretary (ACS), Finance, ISN Prasad — superannuated on Friday after a track record of being the finance secretary to chief ministers of all political parties — Congress, BJP and JDS. He stepped down from office after an impeccable career of 37 years in public service and a week before Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is scheduled to present the state budget — his 14th — on July 7. He is an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of the 1986 batch.
As his parting gift to Karnataka, Prasad played a key role in drafting his 14th - the upcoming budget that poses a significant challenge for the Congress government as it strives to allocate funds effectively in order to fulfil its five guarantees within the financial year at an estimated cost of around Rs 50,000 crore annually. Siddaramaiah had recently announced that the budget size would be Rs 3.35 lakh crore, which is around 8% higher than the Rs 3.09 lakh crore budget presented by the former CM Basavaraj Bommai in February. “The upcoming budget will have Prasad’s imprint,” said an officer, who didn’t wish to be named.
Prasad is known as the “go-to man” for young bureaucrats, when they find themselves at crossroads, said a serving IAS officer. “He is not only a good human being, but also an excellent mentor to us all. He reaches out to every officer, who seeks his guidance,” added another officer.
“He is one of the finest bureaucrats in Karnataka in the recent past. He balances politicians, departments and industry extremely well. He understands the needs of the industry and has worked out contingency plans for droughts, floods and the most challenging period of the Covid-19 pandemic.
He is trusted by all chief ministers he has served. He always kept in mind the priorities of the CM and struck a fine balance among expenditure, available fundraising resources and the fiscal health of the state while drafting the budget,” said an industrialist.
Prasad has been succeeded by senior IAS officer, ACS, LK Atheeq, another astute officer, of 1991 batch, who has worked earlier in the PMO and the World Bank.