IAS H. Rajesh Prasad Appointed New Chief Secretary of Chandigarh

Chandigarh: In a major administrative reshuffle, the Union Home Ministry has appointed IAS H. Rajesh Prasad (1995 batch) as the new Chief Secretary of Chandigarh. 

A senior officer from the AGMUT cadre, Prasad succeeds IAS Mandip Singh Brar, who briefly held the post following the transfer of Rajeev Verma to the Government of NCT Delhi. 

Prasad’s appointment aligns with the Centre’s cadre management policy and comes at a time when ensuring administrative continuity is crucial for smooth governance and policy execution in Union Territories.

Prasad has previously served as District Collector in South Delhi and Arunachal Pradesh, Commissioner of Trade & Taxes and Urban Development in Delhi, and Principal Secretary of Education and Urban Development in Delhi. Since September 2022, he has been serving as Principal Secretary of the Power Development Department (PDD) in Jammu & Kashmir, with additional charge of the Agriculture Production Department till August 2024.

During his tenure in Jammu & Kashmir, Prasad led several key reforms in the power sector. He enforced strict curtailment schedules and grid discipline, pushed for smart metering, feeder audits, and transformer monitoring, and led winter preparedness drives to reduce outages in Kashmir. His efforts helped bring down the peak power deficit from 22 percent to 12 percent between FY21 and FY24. 

Prasad also strengthened financial governance through tighter budget enforcement and loss reduction measures. As a member of the Board of Directors of KPDCL, he played a vital role in advancing distribution reforms across the region.

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