Hours After Retirement, Bihar Chief Secretary Made Nitish Kumar's Advisor With Minister Rank

Patna: The Bihar government appointed Anjani Kumar Singh as an advisor to Chief Minister Nitish Kumar hours after his retirement as the state’s chief secretary on Friday.

Singh will hold the post of Policy and Programme Implementation Advisor and will enjoy the status of a minister of state, a government notification said. Singh is now entitled to six personal staff members, government bungalow and car for personal use.

"His responsibilities would include extending necessary advice and cooperation to the Chief Minister for effective and result-oriented implementation of the government's programmes and achievement of targets within the stipulated period of time," the notification said.

A 1981 batch IAS officer Singh, considered to be a close aide of Nitish Kumar, was due to retire in February this year but was granted three-month extension.

Singh had earlier served as the Principal Secretary to the CM following which he was elevated to the post of Chief Secretary by the Jitan Ram Manjhi government, overlooking the seniority of eight other IAS officers of the state cadre.

Following Singh’s retirement, 1984-batch IAS officer Deepak Kumar has taken over as the new chief secretary.

The Nitish Kumar government had made a similar appointment in 2015 when poll strategist Prashant Kishor was made advisor and given the rank of cabinet minister. Kishor was widely credited with the BJP’s win in 2014 general elections and the JD(U)-RJD-Congress Mahagathbandhan win in 2015 Assembly elections. Opposition uproar, however, prompted Kishor to make a quiet exit.