Mr. Sameer Sharma a senior IAS officer of 1985 batch has taken the charge of chief secretary of Andhra Pradesh on Thursday. He succeeded Mr. Aditya Nath Das who has now been appointed as the Andhra Pradesh government’s chief advisor in New Delhi at the rank of cabinet minister.
Soon to be retired Mr. Sharma has served as the Director General of the Indian Institute of corporate affairs. Apart from being an IAS officer he is a well-known author whose area of writing has been urban planning, geography, smart cities management etc.
He is an academician and a scholar who has been the director of national smart cities mission. He has done his Masters and PhD in community planning from the United States of America.
Previously he has also worked as Chairman and managing director of Indian tourism department corporation and as a consultant for United Nations habitat in Cambodia and international federation of red Cross society.
He is probably the only IAS officer who has served as Commissioner of major municipal corporations of United AP as Vijayawada, Greater Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam.
His initiatives to promote community organizations in slums and reforms in governance under Jawaharlal Nehru National urban renewal mission have widely been recognized by the Prime Minister and President of India.