With Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Awanish Kumar Awasthi, retiring on August 31, the search for his successor has been expedited by the Uttar Pradesh government. A proposal for Awasthi’s extension has been sent to the Centre and the consent was still pending. At present, the names of four senior IAS officers are being considered by the government, sources said.

Awanish Awasthi, a 1987-batch officer of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), was given the responsibility of the Home department on July 31, 2019. He is also the CEO of UPEDA and the Department of Energy.

Awasthi, one of the officers close to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, was initially made the ACS, Information and Tourism, as well as the CEO of UPEDA. After the formation of the Yogi Adityanath government in the state in the year 2017, he was called back from Central deputation.

The sources said that discussions on names of some senior IAS officers close to the government were held at the top level on Tuesday to make the final call in case Awasthi’s term was not extended.

According to the sources, the prominent names include ACS (Health) Amit Mohan Prasad, Principal Secretary (CM) Sanjay Prasad, Principal Secretary (Basic Education) Deepak Kumar and Principal Secretary (Urban Development) Amrit Abhijat. 

During his tenure as the ACS (Home), he became the architect of many big decisions, including the implementation of the police commissionerate system in the state. A law for recovery from miscreants was also made and many works related to police reforms were also done. Similarly, during his tenure, UPEDA built two new expressways in the state. The new jail manual was also finalised under his supervision recently.