Rajiv Sharma an all-rounder, hails KCR

Hyderabad: Stating that outgoing Chief Secretary Dr Rajiv Sharma is an all-round player and not just a batsman, Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao on Wednesday announced that he was appointing him as Chief Advisor to the government with cabinet rank to offer best services to the State.

Rajiv Sharma, who was an official bureaucrat so far will now be a political bureaucrat and will discharge duties with cabinet rank, the Chief Minister said amid applause from ministers, officials and staff present. He also directed the ministers and officials to extend same cooperation to Rajiv Sharma. KCR hoped that Pradip Chandra, who has been appointed as new Chief Secretary would discharge duties to meet the expectations of the people.

The Chief Minister recalled how he selected Rajiv Sharma from Central services to head the State and how he planned out and rolled out initiatives to make the new State take new strides in growth and progress amid confusion and initial hiccups. KCR said he will continue to use Rajiv Sharma’s services for the youngest State of the country.

At a farewell function at the Secretariat on Wednesday, the Chief Minister felicitated Dr Rajiv Sharma with a shawl and a memento. Speaking on the occasion, the Chief Minister said Dr Rajiv Sharma rendered best services with determination and spent whole time since inception of the new State.

He relentlessly strove for tiding over crisis period and challenges and transforming the State on to a growth trajectory, implementing many schemes, formation of new districts, dealing with Srikrishna Committee and the issues of two Telugu States and at Central level through all the times.

With great patience, Rajiv Sharma nurtured the infant State to be a leading one at the national level through various schemes and programs, he added. Pointing out that Dr Rajiv Sharma had successfully completed the one-day Integrated Household Survey in 2014, KCR said the whole country was pleasantly surprised over the unique survey and recently an official team from Haryana state, led by its Chief Secretary met Dr Rajiv Sharma and collected valuable information from him. Later, the ministers also felicitated the outgoing chief secretary.

Speaking on the occasion, Deputy Chief Minister Kadiyam Srihari said Dr Rajiv Sharma solved even complex problems of the infant State with a smile successfully. His played a pivotal role in the reconstruction of the infant State, the Deputy CM said and exhorted other officials to strive to emulate Dr Rajiv Sharma’s working style. He also pointed out that no chief secretary in any other State in the country received such a grand felicitation.

Replying to the felicitations, Rajiv Sharma said with team work of officials and staff cooperation he could discharge duties to implement schemes and strategies of the government with political commitment. KCR has new ideas and schemes like Mission Bhagiratha, Mission Kakatiya and others for the welfare of people and development of the State. “I have complete satisfaction about my stint as chief secretary of the new State and all ministers and officials extended their whole-hearted cooperation”, he added.