Mumbai: A 1978 batch IAS officer, Jageshwar Saharia, took charge as the new chief secretary of Maharashtra on Saturday.
He succeeded Jayant Kumar Banthia who was the chief secretary since May 2012, a 1977 batch IAS officer.
Saharia, before being appointed for the senior-most job in the state administration, was a additional chief secretary (education). He said that one of his prime tasks is to ensure that government officials are accessible to the public.
"It will be my endeavour to ensure that common man does not have to approach Mantralaya for problems that can be solved at the lower level. All officers should be accessible to the public," he said.
Additional Chief Secretary (home) Amitabh Rajan and Additional Chief Secretary (revenue) Swadheen Kshatriya were in contention for the post besides Saharia, who is the seniormost IAS officer in the state.
The chief secretary's appointment is at the discretion of the chief minister.
According to some sources in Mantralaya said that Saharia staked his claim on the basis of seniority.
Sources said that Rajan, who has also worked as director of the Enforcement Directorate, was transferred to Mumbai at Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan's behest in March last year, and was promised the chief secretary's post.
"As many as 11 ministers in the state government, besides a few IAS officers were against Rajan being appointed for the top administrative job as he is a disciplinarian. They lobbied hard with the CM to ensure that he did not get the post," the source said.
Jayant Kumar Banthia who was chief secretary of Maharashtra before Saharia said that during his tenure the last year's drought and the Mantralaya fire and subsequent renovation were some of the challenging developments.
