PUNE:
Saurabh Rao, who served as district collector for more than three-and-a-half years, is set to take over as Pune’s municipal commissioner on Tuesday.
Rao is among the 28 IAS officers who have been given new postings by the state government. Rao will be replaced by
Aurangabad district collector Naval Kishor Ram.
Rao’s appointment as municipal commissioner was under consideration after Kunal Kumar was transferred to Delhi on deputation as joint secretary, ministry of housing and urban affairs. Kumar had resigned from the
PMC chief’s post about 10 days ago. Since then, additional commissioner Sheetal Ugale was handling the additional responsibility.
An IAS officer of 2003 batch, Rao worked in mission mode to speed up the execution of the proposed Purandar international airport. He won accolades from the Prime Minister’s Office and a letter of appreciation for the sensitiveness shown in the heart operation case of a six-year-old girl referred by the PMO.
Rao played an active role in implementing the state government’s Jalyukta Shivar scheme to ensure water availability in drought-prone areas. Rao has done MA in Political Science and after joining IAS, he worked as assistant collector in Wardha and zilla parishad chief executive officer in Gondia. He served as Nagpur district collector before becoming Pune’s district collector in 2014. Rao has also served as collector and district magistrate in Nandurbar.
Rao will have a tough task in implementing the 24x7 water supply project and the river rejuvenation project. He also faces a major challenge of augmenting the civic body’s revenue.
Ram is a 2008 batch IAS officer and has worked as collector of Beed and chief executive officer of Yavatmal district.
Among the other appointments, Bipin Sharma, education commissioner, has been transferred as managing director of Maharashtra Energy Development Agency. Ruchesh Jaivanshi, deputy secretary of state, water supply department, has been transferred as commissioner, disability and welfare, Pune.
Saurabh Rao