The Maharashtra government has picked former BMC commissioner Praveen Pardeshi (Retd.IAS:1985:MH) as the CEO of MITRA (Maharashtra Institution for Transformation), people familiar with the development said. A formal order announcing his appointment will be issued soon. Presently, he is working as a member of the central government’s National Capacity Building Commission.
In December last year, Shinde appointed his close aide and builder Ajay Ashar and former legislator Rajendra Kshirsagar to the MITRA panel as vice presidents. There was speculation at the time that Pardeshi would be appointed CEO.
He has handled the chief minister’s office for leaders such as Devendra Fadnavis and Vilasrao Deshmukh.
As BMC commissioner, he oversaw the setting up of the Covid-19 treatment infrastructure. However, he was shunted out following differences with his seniors in the first wave. He was posted as Urban Development Secretary, but he chose a deputation at the United Nations. In February 2021, when Sanjay Kumar retired as Chief Secretary, Pardeshi was eager to take the job, but Uddhav Thackeray appointed his batchmate Manu Kumar Srivastava instead. Pardeshi returned to the government for a day as Additional Chief Secretary of the Marathi language department, took VRS, and joined the National Capacity Building Commission.
