Ending speculation for weeks, the state government made it clear that Avani Vaish would be the next chief civil servant of Madhya Pradesh.
He will take charge from Rakesh Sahni. Vaish, a 1975 batch officer of Indian Administrative Service (IAS), was on deputation in New Delhi. His wife is also an IAS officer.
Earlier, names of Sumit Bose, Alka Sirohi, Prashant Mehta, OP Rawat and Satya Prakash were doing the rounds. But Shivraj Singh Chouhan chose Vaish over others, in process superseding several officers.
Vaish came to Bhopal on Wednesday and met the Chief Minister. Avni Vaish's wife Anshu is also an IAS officer, presently posted in HRD ministry in Delhi. Outgoing CS Rakesh Sahni is retiring on January 31.
Though Chief Secretary is an important post, local newspapers gave an impression as it a Chief Minister was getting appointed. The post was glorified and an unprecedented hype created over the selection of the next CS of the state.
