Amaravati: Nilam Sawhney quits advisor post

Amaravati: The state government on Saturday accepted the resignation of retired IAS officer Nilam Sawhney as the principal advisor to the Chief Minister, paving the way for her appointment as the next State Election Commissioner.

Upon the advice of Governor Biswa Bhusan Harichandan, Sawhney tendered her resignation from the principal advisors post on Friday night after the former approved her name for appointment as the SEC, official sources said.

Accordingly, chief secretary Aditya Nath Das issued an order on Saturday accepting Sawhney's resignation as the principal advisor.

Nilam Sawhney will take over as the State Election Commissioner upon the retirement of incumbent Nimmagadda Ramesh Kumar on March 31.

Sawhney, an IAS officer of the 1984 batch, was appointed as the Chief Minister's principal advisor on January 1 following her retirement as state chief secretary on December 31, 2020.

As principal advisor, she was given the rank of a Cabinet minister. She was brought back to the state cadre in November 2019 after the then chief secretary L V Subrahmanyam was removed from the post.

A formal order on Sawhney's new appointment will be issued separately later.