Ajeya Kallam appointed new Chief Secretary of Andhra Pradesh

AMARAVATI (INDIA): Ajeya Kallam, IAS officer of 1983 batch, will be the new Chief Secretary of Andhra Pradesh.nnThe state government issued an order this evening appointing Kallam as the head of the bureaucracy to replace Satya Prakash Tucker.nnKallam will take charge tomorrow from Tucker, who will retire at the end of his extended six-month tenure.nnKnown to be an “upright” officer, Kallam is currently Special Chief Secretary, Finance and Revenue, and is widely respected.nnHe will, however, retire on March 31 on attaining the age of superannuation.nnOn April 1, Dinesh Kumar, another IAS officer of the 1983 batch, will succeed Kallam, the government order said.nnThe Centre reportedly turned down the state government’s request for a six-month extension of Kallam’s tenure, leaving it with no option but to appoint Dinesh as the subsequent CS, sources said.nnThe Centre reportedly cited a similar case in neighbouring Telangana as a precedent, wherein K Pradeep Chandra had got only one month to serve as CS in December last when the request for extension of his tenure was rejected.nnSource: Press Trust of India