Siddaramaiah clears Subhash Chandra Khuntia's name for chief secretary
IAS officer Subhash Chandra Khuntia will replace incumbent Arvind Jadhav as the chief secretary of Karnataka whose term ends on September 30.
Karnataka Chief minister Siddaramaiah has cleared the name of senior IAS officer Subhash Chandra Khuntia to succeed as the next chief secretary of the state. Khuntia will replace incumbent Arvind Jadhav whose term ends on September 30.
Siddaramaiah was under pressure to choose between Khuntia and additional chief secretary K Ratnaprabha.
With the alleged land deals controversy surrounding Arvind Jadhav, Siddaramaiah opted for Khuntia who has a 'clean' image.
The appointment was done after careful deliberation to avoid any further embarrassment and damage to the image of the government.
Arvind Jadhav, who has been charged with manipulating government records with regard to a parcel of land bought by his mother, is being investigated by the Anti-Corruption Bureau.
Ratnaprabha was given a clean chit by the Andhra Pradesh High Court and Supreme Court in an old CBI case pertaining to alleged illegal land allotment to Indu Tech zone in the previous united state of Andhra Pradesh during her stint as secretary, Information Technology and Communications. However, now she is facing a penalty which maybe imposed by the Telangana government.
Additional chief secretary Subhash Chandra Khuntia is currently on Central deputation as Secretary, School Education and Literacy, Ministry of Human Resource and Development.