By Express News Service
BENGALURU: With Chief Secretary Ratna Prabha set to retire from service on June 30, speculations on her successor is already on in the corridors of power in the state. Ratna Prabha is on a three month extension of service.
TM Vijay Bhaskar, who is serving as the Additional Chief Secretary, is seen as the frontrunner for the post. Giving him competition for the post is S K Pattanayak, who is currently on central government service as the Secretary in the Department of Agriculture, Co-operation and Farmers’ Welfare. His is considered a key post in the Narendra Modi government which is chalking out programmes to double farmers’ income by 2022.
Though Pattanayak, a 1982 batch IAS officer, is senior to Bhaskar who belongs to the 1983 IAS batch, the latter is being seen as the frontrunner for the post for his rich experience in state administration. Besides, Bhaskar is a native officer as against Pattanayak who hails from Orissa.
However, Pattanayak could get the coveted post if he decides to return to serve in Karnataka and Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy prefers him over Bhaskar, but according to sources it seems unlikely. Even if appointed as the Chief Secretary he will have a tenure of just three months as he is set to retire on September 30.
On the contrary, Bhaskar would have a long stint of two-and-a-half years if appointed the head of state bureaucracy as he has service tenure up to December 31, 2020.Additional Chief Secretary and Development Commissioner D V Prasad, a 1984 batch IAS officer, too is in the reckoning for the post.
