Seasoned bureaucrat Rajeev Ranjan on Monday took over as Chief Secretary of Tamil Nadu, succeeding K Shanmugam whose second extension in service ended on Sunday.
Ranjan, a 1985-batch IAS officer, was repatriated to his parent cadre of Tamil Nadu by the Centre at the request of the state government. The seasoned bureaucrat assumed charge on Monday morning at Fort St. George, the seat of power of the Tamil Nadu Government.
Beginning his career as Sub-Collector in Tiruvannamalai (1987-89), Ranjan was appointed as the Collector of Tiruchirapalli district in 1995. Later, he moved to the Centre for a few years before returning to his parent cadre. He had worked as Principal Secretary and later as Additional Chief Secretary (Highways) when Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami was the Highways Minister.
In 2018, he returned to Delhi and served as Secretary, Department of Fisheries, Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, till he was repatriated to his parent cadre last week.
Shanmugam appointed adviser
Shanmugam, who retired on Sunday, had been appointed as adviser to the state government for a period of one year. The outgoing chief secretary got two extensions to his service period.