A woman chief secretary in Rajasthan

Why in news:

• The Department of Personnel (DOP) recently issued an order to appoint 1985-batch IAS officer Usha Sharma as the new chief secretary of Rajasthan, making her the second woman to hold the post.
• In addition, the outgoing chief secretary, Niranjan Arya, who retired on Monday, has been appointed as the advisor to chief minister Ashok Gehlot.

Key Points:

• Kushal Singh was the first woman chief secretary of the state from February 2009 to October 2009.
• Usha Sharma has also been given additional charge of Rajasthan State Mines and Minerals Limited. She will hold this charge till further orders.
• The DOP order also stated that salary, allowances and terms of service of Arya will be issued separately after the consent of the finance department.
• Sharma, who was secretary of the department of youth affairs, government of India, was transferred to her parent cadre (Rajasthan) by the Centre on the state government’s request.
• It is worth mentioning that Sharma is the sister-in-law of assembly speaker CP Joshi. She will retire from service in June, 2023.
• The appointments committee of the cabinet has approved the repatriation of Usha Sharma, secretary, department of youth affairs, ministry of youth affairs and sports, to her parent cadre on the request of the state government.
• Sharma held the posts of director general, archaeological survey of India; additional secretary, department of administrative reforms and public grievances, ministry of personnel; additional director general (tourism), ministry of tourism; principal secretary and commissioner, tourism department, Rajasthan.