Anurag Verma, a 1993-batch IAS officer, on Saturday took charge as the new Chief Secretary of the state in the presence of outgoing Chief Secretary Vijay Kumar Janjua and other senior civil officers.
Born in a family of academicians from Patiala, Verma will also be the Principal Secretary personnel and vigilance in addition to his present assignment as chief secretary.
After assuring the charge, Verma said he will accord top priority to clean, efficient, responsive and transparent administration besides giving major thrust on health and education sectors along with all round development of the state.
Verma said Punjab, being a border state and food bowl of the country, assumes lot of significance for the entire country adding that with the support of all civil and police officers besides government employees, will make Punjab a front ranking state in the country.
The chief secretary said major thrust will also be laid on implementing the state government’s citizen centric and development oriented policies with feedback from the ground level.
He said every effort will be made to percolate the benefits of the pro-people policies of the state government at the ground level. He further said that a viable mechanism will be evolved for further resolving the grievances of the general public on priority basis and in a prompt manner.
A native village of Chalela in Patiala district, Verma is a Gold Medalist from the Thapar College, Patiala in electronics and communication engineering. He bagged overall 7th rank in the UPSC Civil Services Examination in 1993.
Verma was holding the charge of additional chief secretary home, industries and commerce, legal and legislative affairs, information technology and investment promotion.
He had also served the state in various capacities including in rural development and panchayats, excise and taxation, revenue. He took the step of computerising revenue land records and establishing Fard Kendras in the state while serving as special secretary of revenue.
While serving as excise and taxation commissioner, Verma made it simple and transparent for people to pay their taxes, which was one of his greatest accomplishments.
In his capacity as the Finance Commissioner for Rural Development and Panchayat, Verma carried out the MGNREGA scheme’s ground-level implementation. He constructed playgrounds and sports parks in more than 1000 villages throughout the state.
