Rajasthan: IAS officer Usha Sharma appointed as new chief secretary, second woman officer to reach top post

Jaipur: Senior IAS officer Usha Sharma has been appointed as the new Chief Secretary of Rajasthan. Sharma is the 46th CS of the state but only the second woman officer to reach the top post of bureaucracy since the formation of Rajasthan.

Usha Sharma is the 1985 batch officer and was serving as the secretary in the Department of Youth Affairs in the central government on deputation. The Appointment of Cabinet had approved the repatriation of her services to her parent cadre at the request of the state government on Sunday.

Now the state government has appointed her as the Chief Secretary on Monday.

The outgoing CS Niranjan Arya has been appointed as the adviser to CM Ashok Gehlot.

The appointment of Sharma is also being seen as a political message of women empowerment from Gehlot as he is the only CM who has given chance to two woman officers to reach the top post. He had appointed Kushal Singh as CS in his previous tenure in 2009.

‘CM could have chosen anyone from the officers as he did last time when Niranjan Arya was appointed CS despite being on number 10 in the seniority list, but this time Gehlot honoured the seniority which is important at this time, especially when his party Congress is promoting women in UP elections,’ said a senior bureaucrat on anonymity.

Usha Sharma’s husband BN Sharma is also holding a key post in the state. He was appointed as the Chairmen of Rajasthan Electricity Regulatory Commission after his retirement.

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