HYDERABAD: Senior IAS officer A Santhi Kumari has been appointed as the new Chief Secretary to the Government of Telangana in place of Somesh Kumar on Wednesday. She will be the first woman CS after the State bifurcation in 2014.

Orders to this effect were issued by the State Government appointing the 1989 batch officer in place of Somesh Kumar, whose allotment to Telangana via an order of the Central Administrative Tribunal was quashed by the Telangana High Court on Wednesday.

She met Chief Minister K Chandrasekhara Rao at the Pragathi Bhavan and thanked him for the opportunity. CM KCR congratulated the first woman CS of Telangana.

Santhi Kumari who holds a postgraduate in marine biology also completed her MBA in the US. She served in various capacities in erstwhile Andhra Pradesh and later in Telangana. Previously, she was serving as the Special Chief Secretary for Environment and Forests department before being elevated to CS of Telangana.

Santhi Kumar is slated to retire in April 2025 making her a favourable choice for this post.

Govt. of #Telangana appointed 1989 batch IAS officer, Smt. A. Santhi Kumari as the new Chief Secretary.

Smt. Santhi Kumari has assumed the charge as the new CS today and is the first woman to hold the CS position in Telangana State.@TelanganaCS pic.twitter.com/VEO5y0Gjku
— Telangana Digital Media Wing (@DigitalMediaTS) January 11, 2023

She assumed charge as the sixth Chief Secretary of Telangana at 3:15 pm on Wednesday at BR Ambedkar Bhawan. She was discharging duties as the Special Chief Secretary of the Telangana Forest Department. Her other designations were that of the Principal Secretary in the Chief Minister's Office besides serving as a Special officer in the Telangana State Industrial Project Approval and Self-Certification System (TS iPASS). She also worked as the BC welfare commissioner in the undivided state of Andhra Pradesh.

Also Read: DoPT Relieves CS Somesh Kumar from Telangana Effective Jan 10