The Narendra Modi government on Wednesday obliged the request of Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy for an extension of service to chief secretary Neelam Sawhney, who was supposed to retire on June 30.
Orders to this effect were issued by the Central government. However, Neelam would get extension only for three months from July 1, 2020 to September 30, 2020. She would be retiring on September 30, unless the Centre gives further extension.
In fact, Jagan had written to the Centre twice, seeking extension of tenure of Neelam Sawhney by six months. The Centre has finally accepted the request of the chief minister, but granted extension to the chief secretary only for three months.
Neelam was in the central service before she came back to her Andhra Pradesh cadre on November 13, following the unceremonious transfer of her predecessor L V Subrahmanyam who had a tussle with the chief minister’s office.
Though another senior officer Neerabh Kumar Prasad was given the charge of chief secretary in place of Subrahmanyam, Jagan preferred to bring Neelam Sawhney as the full-time chief secretary.
A 1984-batch IAS officer, Neeelam Sawhney worked in various capacities in the combined Andhra Pradesh state, before she was allotted to residuary AP after the bifurcation of the state.