Wife to succeed husband as new Karnataka chief secy

The Karnataka govt appointed Shalini Rajneesh as the new chief secretary. She will succeed her husband Rajneesh Goel, who retires on July 31. “The 1989 batch IAS officer’s appointment was finalised by chief minister Siddaramaiah, who was authorised by the cabinet to take the decision,” state law and parliamentary affairs minister HK Patil said. Shalini is the fifth woman to occupy the chief secretary’s post in the state after Teresa Bhattacharya (July 2001 - March 2002), Malati Das (Oct 2006-Dec 2006), K Ratna Prabha (Dec 2017-Dec 2018) and Vandita Sharma (May 2022-Nov 2023). Shalini and her husband are the third couple to hold the top post after BK Bhattacharya and Teresa Bhattacharya, and BK Das and Malati Das. Regarded as an able administrator, Shalini has handled various responsibilities and has a history of driving policy innovations.