Chandigarh, 8 January 2025: In a major administrative shift, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has renamed the post of adviser to the Chandigarh administrator as “chief secretary.” The announcement came through an official notification issued on Tuesday.
The position, traditionally held by a senior IAS officer from the Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Mizoram, and Union Territories (AGMUT) cadre, is currently occupied by Rajeev Verma, a 1992-batch IAS officer. Verma has been serving as the adviser to the administrator since January 2024.
Chandigarh’s administrative structure has evolved significantly over the years. When the city became a Union Territory on November 1, 1966, it was initially governed by a chief commissioner. This arrangement remained until June 1984, when the Punjab governor assumed the role of Chandigarh administrator.
The post of chief commissioner was then abolished and replaced with that of adviser to the UT administrator. The transition saw K Banerjee, the last chief commissioner, re-designated as the first adviser.
The MHA’s move marks the latest in Chandigarh’s administrative evolution, aligning its governance terminology with other states and Union Territories.