With Rajasthan Chief Secretary Sudhansh Pant (IAS:1991:RJ) moving to the Central Government as Secretary, Department of Social Justice and Empowerment, the suspense over his successor has all but ended. Sources have confirmed that V Srinivas (IAS:1989:RJ) is set to take over as the next Chief Secretary of Rajasthan, with only the formal announcement awaited.
In a decisive development, the Central Government on Friday (November 14, 2025) approved the repatriation of Srinivas to his parent cadre — a move initiated by the Rajasthan government specifically to enable his appointment as Chief Secretary.
According to the order issued by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT): “The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved repatriation of Shri V. Srinivas, IAS (RJ:89), Secretary, Department of Administrative Reforms & Public Grievances and Department of Pensions & Pensioners’ Welfare to his parent cadre on the request of Government of Rajasthan.”
Among serving bureaucrats in the Rajasthan cadre, several senior IAS officers were initially seen as strong contenders for the top post. The names doing the rounds included Abhay Kumar (IAS:1992:RJ), ACS, Water Resources; Shikhar Agarwal (IAS:1993:RJ), ACS to the Chief Minister; and Akhil Arora (IAS:1993:RJ), ACS, PHED.
Parallelly, the pool of officers on central deputation also featured prominently in the early discussions. Among them were V. Srinivas (IAS:1989:RJ), Secretary, DARPG & Pensions; Rajat Kumar Mishra (IAS:1992:RJ), Secretary, Department of Fertilizers; and Tanmay Kumar (IAS:1993:RJ), Secretary, MoEF&CC. Their seniority and extensive experience at the Centre kept them firmly in the reckoning as potential choices for the state’s top bureaucratic role.
However, with Friday’s repatriation order, the race has now decisively tilted in favour of Srinivas. The Rajasthan government is expected to issue the official appointment order soon, formally naming him as the next Chief Secretary.
Join Us on WhatsApp