JP Dange is new chief secy

Chief minister Ashok Chavan on Monday appointed JP Dange the state chief secretary, Swadheen Kshatriya the municipal commissioner, and former speaker Babasaheb Kupekar the deputy chairman of the state planning board.

Dange, IAS 1973 batch, will be the 32nd chief secretary. He took over from Johny Joseph who retired after completing a six-month extension on Monday.

Dange, who has been the additional chief secretary of revenue and forest departments, belongs to an underprivileged socio-economic family from Akola district. He is the second youngest IAS officer in the state after P Subramaniam who was the chief secretary between 1997 and 1999. Dange’s tenure will be of 17 months till he retires in June 2011.

Dange, an MSc with MBA and LLB, started his career as the assistant collector of Jalna.

He later became the collectors of Osmanabad and Bhandara, and the commissioner of Thane and Nashik municipal corporations.

Kshatriya, IAS 1980 batch, will take charge of the post that has been lying vacant for more than a month after Jairaj Pathak was sent to the Centre on deputation.

Chavan said the appointments were based on seniority and merit. “We certainly had received suggestion from various sources”, he said, “but the decision was taken fairly.”

Johny Joseph retired after completing 37 years as a civil servant. He was appointed the deputy Lokayukta.

AK Jain will take over from Swadheen Kshatriya as the principal secretary in the chief minister’s office and Ramesh Kumar will hold additional charge of revenue and forest departments.