IAS Vikas Sheel to take charge as Chhattisgarh’s 12th Chief Secretary
The corridors of power in Raipur are abuzz with anticipation. In a move that has stunned even seasoned bureaucrats by its speed, IAS officer Vikas Sheel (1994 batch, Chhattisgarh cadre) is poised to become the state’s 12th Chief Secretary.
The sequence of developments has been unusually swift. The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) issued his recall on September 12, and within 24 hours Sheel was formally relieved from the Asian Development Bank (ADB), Manila, where he was serving as Advisor to the Executive Director. A farewell was held the very next day.
Senior officials indicated that the order ending his central deputation and directing him back to Raipur is now only a matter of a day or two. If travel schedules hold, Sheel is expected to be in Raipur by next week, with a formal appointment notification likely to follow immediately.
Adding to the curiosity is the parallel movement of his spouse, IAS Nidhi Chhibber (1994 batch), who has been posted to the NITI Aayog. Earlier, she had been appointed Director-General of the Development Monitoring and Evaluation Office (DMEO). The couple, often described as an “administrative power pair,” will now operate out of New Delhi and Raipur respectively-a dynamic watched with interest in bureaucratic circles.
The urgency behind his appointment is being interpreted as the Government’s determination to enter its silver jubilee year with a firm bureaucratic anchor at the helm. With Raipur on the cusp of adopting a new Police Commissionerate system, and with industrial investments flowing into Bastar, the role of the Chief Secretary demands tight inter-departmental coordination. Sheel’s experience at the Centre and his Manila posting are expected to shape his approach in introducing globally benchmarked practices to Chhattisgarh’s governance.
Sheel’s profile stands apart for its balance of field command, policy formulation, and global exposure. Beginning his career in Madhya Pradesh before moving to the newly created Chhattisgarh cadre in 2000, he served as Collector in Koriya, Bilaspur, and Raipur, leaving behind a reputation for quiet efficiency. At the state secretariat, he shouldered critical assignments in School Education, Food, General Administration and Health. His stint in Delhi sharpened his national credentials: as Additional Secretary, Health and Family Welfare, he was at the frontlines of pandemic preparedness; later, as Mission Director, Jal Jeevan Mission in the Ministry of Jal Shakti, he piloted one of India’s most ambitious rural water supply programmes. In January 2024, Sheel moved to Manila for a three-year deputation at the ADB. Few expected him to return so soon – yet the state’s urgency has brought him back within nine months.
Born in 1969, Sheel is an engineer by training, holding a B.E. in Electrical Engineering and a Master’s in Electrical. He joined the IAS on September 4, 1994, and has since built a profile that blends technical acumen with administrative depth.
