Sameer Sharma, the Special Chief Secretary, a 1985-batch IAS officer, has been elevated to the position of Chief Secretary of Andhra Pradesh. A government order to this effect was issued on Friday, September 10, and he will take charge of the post from October 10. Sameer will be replacing Aditya Nath Das, who is due to retire on September 30.

“Dr Sameer Sharma IAS (RR:1985), Special Chief Secretary to Government, Planning and Resource Mobilization is hereby appointed as Chief Secretary to Government of Andhra Pradesh vice Sri Aditya Nath Das, IAS (RR: 1987), Chief Secretary to Government of Andhra Pradesh, retiring from service on retiring from service on attaining the age of superannuation on the afternoon of 30th September 2021,” the GO reads, reported ANI.     

Sameer is presently the Special Chief Secretary of Planning and Resource Mobilisation. He had also worked as the Commissioner of Hyderabad, Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporations earlier. He was the Director of the Smart Cities Mission of Government of India, AMRUT and the World Bank-supported urban capacity building programme. He has held the post of chairman of the committees set up by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs to design a national urban policy framework as well as the policy on value capture finance, The Hindu reported.

Sameer had also worked as the Managing Director of India Tourism Development Corporation and as a consultant for the UN Habitat in Cambodia and the International Federation of Red Cross Societies.

The Hans India reported that Sameer is also expected to retire in two months, at the end of November. The government may seek an extension of his tenure from the union government.