Gujarat officer set to become higher education secretary

Meet the civil servant who will take Prime Minister Modi's plans for education to another level.

Another bureaucrat from Gujarat is likely to get an important posting in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government.

Dr Hasmukh Adhia, a 1981 batch Indian Administrative Service officer of the Gujarat cadre and currently the additional chief secretary (finance) in the state, is the front-runner for the Secretary (Higher Education)'s post.

Current incumbent Ashok Thakur will retire this month.

Dr Adhia, left, has been a member of Modi's core team for almost a decade, and was principal secretary from 2004 to 2006 in the chief minister's office.

He was the brains behind Modi's much-touted Karmayogi Abhiyan in Gujarat for government employees. He has a PhD and is considered an expert in human resources management.

He was also principal secretary (education) for four years in the Modi government before he was shifted to the finance department. In July, he was empaneled as a secretary in the Government of India.

Dr Adhia has requested the Gujarat government to permit him to go on deputation to the Centre where he will work until his superannuation in 2018.

"He is one of the most competent and efficient bureaucrats from Gujarat and can handle any important ministry at the Centre," a senior IAS officer and Dr Adhia's colleague from Gujarat, said.

His proximity to Modi is because of two factors: He is not only an efficient officer with impeccable integrity, but also a Gujarati; and thus a son of the soil from Rajkot in Saurashtra.

In Gujarat, the bureaucracy is dominated by babus from North India, South India and quite a few from Orissa. Not many Gujaratis succeed in the civil service entrance examination.