Senior IAS officer and Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister, V C Pharka, today took charge as Chief Secretary of Himachal Pradesh.
An IAS officer of 1983 batch, Pharka, succeeds P Mitra who retired today.
Meanwhile, T G Negi, State Election Commissioner, has been appointed Principal Advisor to the Chief Minister and his term would be co-terminus with the CM.
Pharka has superseded six senior IAS officers including Deepak Shanan, Ajay Mittal, Vineet Chowdhary (all of 1982 batch) and Upma Chowdhary, Bharti S Sihag and Asharam Sihag.
Ajay Mittal and Sihag couple are currently on deputation to the Centre while three other officers are posted as additional chief secretaries.
Pharka isthe fifth chief secretary of the state hailing from tribal areas.
Earlier, Thakur Sen Negi and B C Negi from Kinnaur, A N Vidyarthi from Lahaul and Spiti and Tochhawng from Nagaland held the coveted post.
Born onOctober 15, 1959 in Pooh village of Kinnaur district, Pharka did his schooling from government high school, Pooh and graduation from St.Stephen's College, Delhi.
He did MA in International Studies and MBA from Australia.
Pharka started his career as SDM, Rohru and served in the Himachal Pradesh government in various capacities.
