Retired IAS officer Mr. Rajesh Khullar has been reappointed as the Chief Principal Secretary to Haryana’s newly elected Chief Minister Nayab Saini. Officer Khullar’s appointment order was issued by the state’s Chief Secretary Mr. TVSN Prasad (1988-batch IAS officer). Mr. Khullar, a 1988-batch Haryana cadre retired IAS officer, will resume his office on a co-terminus basis with CM Saini’s tenure.
Mr. Khullar retired from the IAS on August 31st, 2023, and was immediately appointed as Chief Principal Secretary to the then CM Manohar Lal Khattar on September 1st, 2023. Before this heavyweight designation, Officer Khullar served as the Chief Secretary and Financial Commissioner of the Revenue and Disaster Management, and Consolidation Departments.
Officer Khullar continued as the Chief Principal Secretary when Mr. Saini succeeded Mr. Khattar as the Chief Minister of Haryana in March 2024. Mr. Khullar had an illustrious career in the bureaucracy and also served a three-year term as Executive Director at the World Bank’s Washington DC office, starting in September 2020, following a five-year tenure as the Principal Secretary to CM Khattar.
Mr. Khullar was born on August 31st, 1963, in the Ambala Cantonment of Haryana. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Kurukshetra University and went on to pursue a Master of Science (MSc) in Physics, graduating with a gold medal from Punjab University. Mr. Khullar also completed a Master of Technology (MTech) from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi.
