Bengaluru: The Karnataka Government yesterday appointed K. Rathna Prabha as the new Chief Secretary. Rathna Prabha, a 1981 batch IAS officer, is currently serving as Additional Chief Secretary to the State Government. The State Government also appointed senior IAS officer T.M. Vijay Bhaskar as the Additional Chief Secretary to the Government.

Rathna Prabha,is the third woman Chief Secretary of Karnataka after Teresa Bhattacharya (2000) and Malati Das (2006) and she will hold the post till March 2018. With more than 30 years of experience as a civil servant, Rathna Prabha had previously served in the departments like Commerce and Industries and successfully organised global events to boost investment in IT and other sectors.

She succeeds Subhash Chandra Khuntia, who will be retiring from service on Nov. 30.

Women in top posts

Rathna Prabha’s appointment comes weeks after Senior IPS officer Neelamani N. Raju took charge as the first woman Director General of Police of the State. It will be for the first time in the history that top two administrative offices are being headed by women.