WITH MAHARASHTRA’S Chief Secretary Dinesh Kumar Jain being named by the Centre as a non-judicial member of the country’s first Lokpal, the state is now set to get a new chief secretary. Advertising Sources said that Urvinder Pal Singh Madan, a 1983-batch officer, is the frontrunner for the top job. Jain also belongs to the same batch. In January, the Centre had sanctioned a six-month extension to Jain, whose attained superannuation that month end. While his extended tenure was valid until July end, Jain, whose family is based in Delhi, had applied for the Lokpal member’s position, which comes with a fixed tenure of five years. Sources in the government said that Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis is likely to pick Madan for the chief secretary’s post. Currently, Madan is Maharashtra’s Additional Chief Secretary (Finance). Advertising While Medha Gadgil, also of the 1983 batch, is the state’s seniormost bureaucrat, she had been superseded even during Jain’s elevation to the post. Gadgil happens to be the wife of Congress legislator Anant Gadgil. While Mumbai civic commissioner Ajoy Mehta (1984 batch), is also a contender, sources said that Madan was the favourite for the post. Incidentally, with the model code of conduct in place for the Lok Sabha elections, the state government would need to approach the Election Commission of India to clear the new chief secretary’s name.

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