New Delhi: In what could be a precursor to a mini-reshuffle in the Prime Minister’s Office shortly, Mr Narendra Modi’s principal secretary Nripendra Misra on Friday decided to step down from his post, which he had been holding since May 2014 and to which he was reappointed two months back, on June 11, along with Mr P.K. Mishra, the additional principal secretary to the Prime Minister.
Coincidentally, Mr Misra’s decision to quit came on a day when Cabinet Secretary P.K. Sinha retired.
Official sources said the Prime Minister has requested Mr Misra, a retired 1967-batch IAS officer of the Uttar Pradesh cadre, to stay on for two weeks more, while Mr P.K. Sinha was almost immediately appointed as officer on special duty in the PMO.
This is a clear indication that Mr Sinha will succeed Mr Nripendra Misra as principal secretary in the PMO. Mr Sinha is a 1977-batch UP cadre (now retired) IAS officer.
Though Mr Misra was quoted as having “expressed his intention to be relieved of his assignment”, an interesting fact is that he is already 74 years old. Mr Modi had said after assuming office in 2014 that leaders above 75 should not hold any administrative post.
