Imphal, July 21: Senior IAS officer Puneet Kumar Goel, on Monday, assumed charge as the new Manipur Chief Secretary at the Civil Secretariat here, officials said. Goel, who previously served as the Chief Secretary of Goa, took charge from outgoing Chief Secretary Prashant Kumar Singh at a brief ceremony held at the old Secretariat building.
An official statement said that the Manipur government marked a transition in administrative leadership, with the official handover of charge from outgoing Chief Secretary Prashant Kumar Singh to newly appointed Chief Secretary Puneet Kumar Goel. All senior officials expressed their gratitude to Singh for his dedicated service and visionary leadership during his brief tenure.
Goel, the 1991 batch Arunachal Pradesh-Goa-Mizoram and Union Territories (AGMUT) cadre IAS officer, arrived in Imphal on Sunday, and was greeted by officials led by Manipur Commissioner (Home), N. Ashok Kumar.
The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) appointed Goel, Secretary of the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes, as the Manipur Chief Secretary on July 16. The ACC appointed outgoing Manipur Chief Secretary Singh as the Secretary of the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes.
Singh, an IAS officer of the 1993 batch Manipur cadre, was appointed Manipur Chief Secretary in January this year replacing Vineet Joshi, who was then appointed as the Union Higher Education Secretary.
Singh was then working as the New and Renewable Energy Secretary. Goel, who previously served as the Chief Secretary of Goa, brings a wealth of administrative experience across Union Territories and northeastern states. His posting to Manipur was facilitated through an inter-cadre deputation from AGMUT to the Manipur cadre, as per the Ministry of Home Affairs order dated July 16, an official said.
Goel’s appointment comes at a time when the state is grappling with ethnic unrest and complex rehabilitation efforts of violence-hit displaced people, and is being seen as a strategic move to ensure stability and effective governance. Prasant Kumar Singh’s short tenure in Manipur was marked by sensitive handling of socio-political challenges and his public commitment to rehabilitate all inmates of relief camps by December 2025.
Senior officials said that Goel’s reputation for steady leadership and policy execution is expected to be crucial in managing the state’s volatile landscape and delivering on urgent development and humanitarian commitments.
More than 260 people have been killed and around 70,000 people of different communities rendered homeless in the ethnic violence between the Meiteis and Kuki-Zo-Hmar communities since May 10.
Manipur has been under President’s Rule since February 13, four days after the resignation of N. Biren Singh from the Chief Minister’s post. The Manipur Assembly, which has a tenure till 2027, has been put under suspended animation.
IANS