Manoj Saunik is state’s new chief secretary

MUMBAI: Manoj Saunik, an IAS officer from the 1987 batch, is the 46th chief secretary of Maharashtra. He will take charge from his predecessor Manu Kumar Srivastava (from the 1986 batch) on Sunday. Shrivastava has been appointed as state chief commissioner of Right to Services (RTS) for the next five years.

In the race for the top post along with Saunik was his batch mate and wife Sujata Saunik, which was reported by HT in a story titled, ‘Saunik vs Saunik: Who will be the next chief secretary of the state?’ on March 24. Sujata Saunik is ACS, general administration department. The third contender for the post was Nitin Kareer, additional chief secretary (revenue).

Saunik, a journalist-turned-bureaucrat, was the private secretary to the then union power minister Sushilkumar Shinde, from February 2006 to July 2009, and then in the department of defence production for two years, till November 2012. He has been heading the finance department since August 2019. He was in the competition for the post of CS during the MVA regime, but Srivastava was picked for the post by the then Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray in February 2022.

An official from the general administration department said: “The government has picked Manoj Saunik, who is retiring first of the three. If he is not given an extension, Kareer may get a tenure for three months and Sujata Saunik may still have the opportunity to serve as she is retiring in June 2025. If she is gets the position, she will be the first woman chief secretary of the state.”

Srivastava, who has served in key departments such as urban development, home and revenue in Mantralaya since May 2008, will take charge as commissioner, RTS, from Monday.

“I enjoyed 37 years of service in the Maharashtra cadre and it was a smooth and fulfilling journey. I worked in a very few districts as the postings have always been for long durations. Starting with Dhule, I was posted in Kolhapur and served in Mumbai since 2005 after I was posted as additional commissioner of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation,” said Srivastava.