india

Updated: Aug 30, 2019 22:46 IST

Nripendra Misra, who has served as Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s principal secretary for the last five years, has conveyed his intention to step down, the government announced on Friday. Misra will continue in his post for two weeks on the Prime Minister’s request.

PM Modi has requested Nripendra Misra to continue for two weeks and appointed Pradeep Kumar Sinha as Officer on Special Duty in the PMO. Sinha had stepped down from the Cabinet Secretary’s post just a few hours earlier when the order for his fresh appointment at the Prime Minister’s Office came through.

PM Modi also inducted five fresh faces into his top team: IAS officers Arvind Shrivastava and Hardik Satishchandra Shah, two career diplomats from the Indian Foreign Service Abhishek Shukla and Pratik Mathur and an Indian Audit and Accounts Service official Saurabh Shukla.

Nripendra Misra was one of the first retired bureaucrats inducted into the Prime Minister’s Office after Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party won the 2014 national elections.

When PM Modi returned to power with a bigger majority in May, he had retained his core team at the PMO to build on their strengths: Nripendra Misra’s expertise in economy and delivery, additional principal secretary Pramod Kumar Misra’s management of key bureaucratic appointments and probity in the government, and National Security Adviser Ajit Doval handling of national security.

Misra, who was once the country’s telecom regulator, was considered an affable and efficient administrator who not only guided the functioning of central ministries but also kept a close watch on the happenings to ensure they worked smoothly.

In his farewell note, Misra thanked Prime Minister Modi for the opportunity to ‘serve the country’ and “the complete confidence he has placed in me”.

“It is now time for me to move on, even as I remain devoted to public causes and national interests. I thank all colleagues, within and outside the Government, friends and my family for this support. I wish Shri Narendra Modi Ji, our Prime Minister, success as he leads our country into a bright future,” Misra said in a statement.

In two tweets, PM Modi described Misra as “among the most outstanding officers, who has a great grasp of public policy and administration”.

PM Modi recalled that when he was new to Delhi in 2014, “he taught me a lot and his guidance remains extremely valuable”.

“After serving the PMO assiduously and diligently for over five years and making an indelible contribution to India’s growth trajectory, Shri Nripendra Misra Ji will be embarking on a new phase of his life. My best wishes to him for his future endeavours,” he added.

Following Nripendra Misra’s exit, 1972-batch officer of Gujarat cadre Pramod Kumar Mishra would be the most experienced IAS officer in the PMO.