Additional Chief Secretary of Nagaland Temjen Toy has been appointed new Chief Secretary of the state. He took over charge from the outgoing Chief Secretary Pankaj Kumar on Saturday.
Nagaland government held a farewell programme for outgoing Chief Secretary Pankaj Kumar in presence of AHoDs, HoDs and other high-ranking government officials at Secretariat Plaza, Kohima on Saturday. Kumar served as the chief secretary of the state for little over three years since March 1, 2015.
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Kumar will now assume charge of Additional Secretary, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Government of India.
New Chief Secretary Temjen Toy, speaking on the occasion said the contributions made by the outgoing Chief Secretary for the state were commendable.
His immense contributions to the government and the system he put in place will stay, Toy said adding he had been able to captain the administrative ship very ably amidst all the political turmoil for the past few years.
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During Kumar’s tenure, Nagaland bagged four major international externally aided projects – Nagaland Health Project funded by the World Bank, Climate Resistance Highland Farming, Nagaland Forest Management Project and the Biodiversity Conservation in Community Conserved Areas. However, implementation of those projects in the days to come is important for the sustainable development of the state, Kumar stated.
Narrating the various incidents encountered during his tenure as the Chief Secretary, Kumar maintained that each incident was testing, with weaknesses being shown on the one hand and strength and resilience on handling the situations on the other. He appreciated the sincere efforts of his colleagues specially the senior officers in working together as a team in their efforts to resolve those issues which otherwise could have gone awry.
Highlighting the problems persisting in the state over the years, he said streamlining of recruitment, optimal allocation of funds for better performance and transparency in awarding contracts in the state among other issues are challenging.
“Success comes only with the combined effort of the entire hierarchy of the administrators,” Kumar said. He also thanked all the stakeholders for their cooperation and support in the task of governing the State while also acknowledging the well-managed recently concluded general election under the leadership of Nagaland Chief Electoral Officer Abhijit Sinha, district administration and all other functionaries.
Speaking on behalf of IAS Association, Principal Secretary & Agricultural Commissioner Imkonglemba described Kumar as a very good strategist, a brilliant coordinator and as a person who concentrated on the wellbeing of the government. Due to his rationalization of manpower, the state as a whole benefited from it, Imkonglemba said while pointing out that during his tenure, there has been reformation in vital issues of water & land policy.
Principal Secretary & Commissioner Sentiyanger chaired the programme. Nagaland Civil Services Association Band presented a special number titled ‘One Friend’ in honour of the outgoing Chief Secretary.