Sanjay Jaju Appointed New Chief Secretary of Telangana, Takes Charge on July 1

Sanjay Jaju, a 1992-batch IAS officer of the Telangana cadre, has been appointed as the new Chief Secretary of Telangana and will take charge on July 1, 2026, succeeding K Ramakrishna Rao, who retires on June 30.

The Chief Secretary is the administrative head of a state government, coordinating across all departments and serving as the principal link between the political executive and the civil service machinery. In Telangana, a state that continues to negotiate its administrative identity after the 2014 bifurcation, the Chief Secretary's office carries particular weight in managing welfare scheme implementation, land records, and revenue administration.

Jaju has held several senior positions in the Telangana government over his career spanning more than three decades. His background includes postings in revenue administration and infrastructure departments, areas that define the administrative backbone of Telangana's governance. Officers of his vintage — the 1992 batch — have served across the pre-bifurcation Andhra Pradesh and the post-2014 Telangana administration, giving them an institutional memory that spans two state governments. Jaju was empanelled at the level of Principal Secretary and had been functioning in senior positions leading up to this appointment.

Jaju steps into the role at a point when Telangana's government, led by the Congress under Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, has been in the middle of a series of administrative reshuffles. The Friday reshuffle that included Jaju's appointment also shifted 13 IAS officers across departments, signalling an acceleration in the pace of administrative changes the government has been making since coming to power in late 2023. His appointment as Chief Secretary formalises a transition that had been anticipated within administrative circles for several weeks.

K Ramakrishna Rao, the outgoing Chief Secretary, is a 1991-batch IAS officer who served in the top post through a period of significant administrative activity. His exit on June 30 on superannuation follows the government's convention of completing the transition before the date of retirement. Upon retirement, Rao has been appointed Advisor and Ex-officio Special Chief Secretary to the Chief Minister — a post-retirement engagement that allows the government to retain his institutional knowledge during the transition to new leadership at the top of the bureaucracy.

The appointment of Jaju reflects the Telangana government's approach of picking officers who have spent considerable time within the state's administrative system, rather than those returning from central deputation. With multiple senior officers reaching superannuation over the coming months, managing the pipeline of appointments at the Principal Secretary and Additional Chief Secretary levels will be an early challenge for the new Chief Secretary's office.

Jaju is expected to take charge on July 1, 2026, the day after Rao's retirement. His appointment was part of a broader set of transfer orders issued by the Telangana government on June 27.