CM Bommai names Vandita Sharma as Karnataka's new chief secretary

Karnataka CM Bommai has appointed senior IAS officer Vandita Sharma as the state's new chief secretary; the incumbent, P Ravi Kumar, is set to retire on May 31.

Published on: May 28, 2022, 10:58:54 IST

By Yamini C S | Edited by Chandrashekar Srinivasan

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The Karnataka government on Friday appointed senior IAS officer Vandita Sharma as the state's new chief secretary. Sharma, a 1986-batch IAS officer, is currently additional chief secretary and development commissioner. She will succeed P Ravi Kumar, who will retire on May 31.

The IAS officer will be the fourth woman to occupy the post.

The senior IAS officer will be in office till November 2023. She will be the 39th chief secretary and only the fourth woman to occupy the post, after Teresa Bhattacharya in 2000, Malathi Das in 2006, and K Ratna Prabha in 2017.

Hailing from Punjab, Vandita Sharma holds an undergraduate degree in Sociology and a post-graduate degree in English.

Over the past 36 years she has worked in many departments - like Land Revenue Management, District Administration, Agriculture, Urban Development, Rural Development, Women and Child Development, Panchayati Raj, Civil Aviation, Elementary Education, Tourism, Horticulture, Finance and Space.

Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, the executive chairperson of Biocon Limited, took to Twitter to share her view of the appointment, and said: “1986 IAS batch Vandita Sharma to succeed Ravi Kumar as Chief secretary - A very thoughtful n action oriented administrator who can drive major change especially infra, health & education.”

The state's law minister and senior BJP leader J C Madhuswamy said earlier the cabinet had shortlisted nine IAS officers for the position of the next chief secretary and presented the list to Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai.

Bommai was to choose his next Chief Secretary from this list.

The list consisted of the selected candidate Vandita Sharma and her husband ISN Prasad, who is the additional chief secretary of the finance division; Rajneesh Goel, the additional chief secretary for home; Ajay Seth from central deputation; EV Ramana Reddy, the additional chief secretary for industries; Rakesh Singh, the additional chief secretary of water resources; Shalini Rajneesh, additional chief secretary for planning; G Kumar Naik, additional chief secretary for power; and former Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike chief commissioner Gaurav Gupta, who is presently the additional chief secretary of the infrastructure department.

(With agency inputs)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Yamini C S
Yamini CS is a Senior Content Producer at Hindustan Times with nearly six years of experience in digital journalism. She is part of the India News desk, where she works on a wide range of stories cutting across civic issues, city-based developments, politics, governance, public policy, breaking news, trending topics, and international affairs that have an impact on India. Her role involves tracking fast-moving developments, verifying information from official and on-ground sources, and presenting news in a clear, accessible format for a digital-first audience. A significant part of her work includes handling live blogs during major news events, such as elections, court verdicts, political developments, civic disruptions, protests, weather-related alerts, and unfolding national or international incidents. Through live coverage, she focuses on timely updates to help readers follow complex stories as they evolve. Before moving to the broader India News desk, Yamini was associated with the Bengaluru desk at Hindustan Times, where she extensively covered urban governance, infrastructure, traffic and transport issues, weather events, public grievances, and civic administration in the city. This experience strengthened her grounding in city reporting and sharpened her focus on citizen-centric journalism. She began her career as a correspondent with Reuters after completing a postgraduate diploma in journalism from the Indian Institute of Journalism and New Media. Her early training instilled a strong emphasis on accuracy, sourcing, and news ethics, which continue to shape her reporting style. Outside of work, Yamini enjoys reading across genres, listening to music, and spending time with her family, which help her maintain balance in a fast-paced newsroom environment.Read More

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