New Delhi: Former Coal Secretary Amrit Lal Meena, who was repatriated to his home cadre on August 30, has been appointed Chief Secretary of Bihar. Meena took charge of his new post on Saturday. Earlier, an order issued by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) on August 30 said, "The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved repatriation of Shri Amrit Lal Meena, IAS (BH:89), Secretary, Ministry of Coal, to his parent cadre on the request of Government of Bihar."
Meena made a courtesy call on Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Saturday. He succeeds outgoing Chief Secretary Brijesh Mehrotra.
Meena took over charge of the post of Secretary, Ministry of Coal, in November 2022, while he was on Central deputation. The highlight of his tenure was a momentous increase in India's coal production, with the country's total coal production crossing the 1 Billion Tonne (BT) mark in FY 2023-24. When he took charge of the ministry in 2022, India had been facing a scarcity of coal every summer season (when power demand spikes) since 2020.
Meena is an IAS officer from the 1989 batch of Bihar Cadre and has held the charge of Special Secretary (Logistics), Department for Promotion of Industry & Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce & Industry.
He completed his BTech in Electrical Engineering and Post-Graduation Diploma in Public Policy and Management from IIM, Bangalore. Earlier, he was Secretary in the government of Bihar and looked after various departments, including, Rural Development, Urban Development and Building Corporation. He also worked as Principal Secretary/Additional Chief Secretary in the Road Construction Department, government of Bihar.
Meena has also worked as Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Food Processing Industries and in the Ministry of Rural Development. He has served as District Magistrate in five districts of Bihar for over nine years.
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