No extension to Manoj Kumar Singh, Shashi Prakash Goyal takes charge as new Uttar Pradesh chief secretary

Hindustan Times

5 days ago

Ending uncertainty over the state's top bureaucratic post, Shashi Prakash Goyal, a 1989-batch IAS officer of the Uttar Pradesh cadre, was appointed the new chief secretary on Thursday and took charge of the assignment, putting at rest speculation over service extension to Manoj Kumar Singh, a 1988-batch IAS officer, who retired on the day as there was no response from the Centre to the state government's request to give him a longer innings. Newly appointed Uttar Pradesh chief secretary Shashi Prakash Goyal being greeted by his predecessor Manoj Kumar Singh in Lucknow on Thursday. (Deepak Gupta/Hindustan Times)
Goyal, who was serving as additional chief secretary to the chief minister, led the CM's secretariat for over eight years and is considered close to Yogi Adityanath. With Goyal's appointment as chief secretary, Sanjay Prasad will now lead the CM's secretariat as principal secretary. He worked with Goyal as principal secretary to chief minister, protocol, home, confidential, VISA passports, vigilance and information. Prasad now gets charge of government estates and civil aviation departments as well.
Goyal, who has held various important posts in the state government and at the Centre, took charge of his new office soon after his appointment to the top post of the UP's bureaucracy.
Over the past few days, the state government waited for the Centre's response on extension in service to Singh. The request was sent about a fortnight ago.
Even as the wait continued till the end of the working day on Thursday, Singh was seen meeting visitors in office and left at about 4.30 pm when the hopes for the Centre's nod to the state government's request dimmed. Later in the evening, he handed over charge to Goyal.
'I had a very good and satisfying one-year tenure as chief secretary and a 37-year career in the IAS. Several important decisions were taken during the period. I extend my best wishes to the new incumbent. Uttar Pradesh is an excellent cadre and has seen transformative changes under the leadership of chief minister Yogi Adityanath in the past eight years,' Singh said.
Following installation of the Yogi Adityanath government in 2017, Goyal was appointed as principal secretary to the chief minister and helmed the CM's secretariat ever since.
Goyal's name figured on top of the 1989 batch of the IAS. He was considered a front-runner to the post of chief secretary.
Union secretary, department of agriculture and farmer's welfare, Devesh Chaturvedi and UP's agriculture production commissioner Deepak Kumar also appeared to be in the race for the top post.
Goyal also becomes the infrastructure and industrial development commissioner and gets charge of the coordination department. He also becomes the chairman of PICUP, CEO of UPEIDA (Uttar Pradesh Expressways Industrial Development Authority) and UPSHA (Uttar Pradesh State Highways Authority) and project director of UPDASP (Uttar Pradesh Diversified Agriculture Support Project).