Nitin Kareer Assumes Charge as New Chief Secretary, Woman IAS Officer Superseded Once Again
GG News Bureau
Mumbai, 3rd Jan. Nitin Kareer, who previously served as the additional chief secretary (finance), has now become the new chief secretary of the state. This change occurred after the Centre denied an extension to the outgoing chief secretary, Manoj Saunik.
Interestingly, this is the fourth time that a female IAS officer has been overlooked and lost the opportunity to become chief secretary.
Saunik’s wife, Sujata, who also holds the position of additional chief secretary (finance), was once again bypassed for the chief secretary role. In the previous instance, she was superseded by her own husband.
Manoj Saunik, an IAS officer from the 1987 batch, took over from Manu Kumar Srivastava on April 29. Both he and his wife Sujata, who is senior to him, were contenders for the position, but Manoj Saunik was ultimately chosen.
He had previously served as the head of the public works department for over five years. This time, Kareer was chosen over Sujata, with sources in the bureaucracy stating that Kareer’s candidacy was supported by deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar. Sujata did not attend the function.
Many women IAS officers are disappointed by Sujata’s supersession once again.
In the past, Chandra Iyengar, Chitkala Zutshi, and Medha Gadgil have also been overlooked, leading to protests by female IAS officers who claim discrimination.
Kareer completed his graduation from B J Medical College in Pune and holds a Masters in finance. As an IAS officer from the 1988 batch, he previously served as the collector of Sangli and received the Satyen Mitra award for the best adult literacy program in the country in 1998.
He has also worked as the inspector-general of stamps and registration and received awards for his innovative work. Kareer was awarded the national e-governance first prize in 2002 for fully computerized land transactions in the registration department. In 2013, while heading the sales tax department, he received the state-level first prize for e-governance initiatives. He also gained international recognition for developing an automated building plan approval system at the Pune Municipal Corporation.
Kareer’s main focus has been on building systems that provide better service delivery with minimal interaction, reducing the chances of public harassment. He has also worked towards the effective implementation of social sector schemes in all departments to empower the people.
In the urban development department, Kareer made efforts to revitalize spatial planning, create coordinated and flexible plans, delegate and decentralize tasks, identify growth corridors, and establish policies for proper urban planning with a focus on people, mobility, and services.
As the head of the revenue department, he took steps towards fully online registration, faster and accurate land measurement, and the establishment of dynamic linkages between registration, land measurement, and land records to move towards a land title system.
During the function, outgoing chief secretary Manoj Saunik expressed his gratitude to all IAS officers for their support.
As he signed the papers, he remarked, “This is the last time I am signing as a government servant. Now I am a free person.”
