Former Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike Chief Commissioner Manjunath Prasad N has been appointed to the post of Principal Secretary to the new Chief Minister of Karnataka, Basavaraj Bommai. He will also be the Principal Secretary of the Department of Information and Public Relations. The notification regarding the same was issued on Thursday, August 5. Manjunath Prasad N replaces Ramana Reddy, who had held the post during BS Yediyurappa’s tenure as Chief Minister. Before Basavaraj Bommai took charge as the CM, Prasad worked as the Principal Secretary to the Revenue Department
Along with Manjunath Prasad, the Karnataka government announced the transfers of several IAS officers. Ramana Reddy, who is replaced by Manjunath Prasad, will now be the Additional Chief Secretary to the Commerce and Industries Department. He will also hold the post of Additional Chief Secretary to the Information Technology and Biotechnology Department.
Rajkumar Khatri, who previously was the Additional Chief Secretary to Commerce and Industries Department will now take charge as Additional Chief Secretary to Agriculture Department. The post of Principal Secretary to the Revenue Department, which was previously occupied by Manjunath Prasad, will now be given to Tushar Giri. Giri will also be placed in charge of the post of Principal Secretary to Disaster Management, Bhoomi and Urban Property Ownership Records (UPOR), which was also previously occupied by Manjunath Prasad.
The notification also stated that Jawaid Akhtar is being given the post of Additional Chief Secretary of the Forest, Ecology & Environment Department. However, he will also retain his original position as Additional Chief Secretary to the Health & Family Welfare Department.
Earlier in the week, after Basavaraj Bommai took charge as the new Chief Minister of Karnataka, Ponnuraj who is the Managing Director (MD) of Karnataka Power Corporation Limited (KPCL) was appointed to the post of Chief Minister's secretary replacing Selvakumar. However, Ponnuraj will still continue as the MD of KPCL. Selvakumar was transferred as the Secretary to the Department of Skill Development, Entrepreneurship and Livelihood.