The government of Madhya Pradesh has recently appointed the senior IAS officer, Mr. Anurag Jain, as the 35th Chief Secretary of the state. The senior IAS officer shall replace Ms. Veera Rana, a 1988-batch IAS officer, who retired as the state’s Chief Secretary on September 30th, after having received two extensions of six months each.
Mr. Anurag Jain, an IAS officer of the 1989 batch, was posted in New Delhi on central deputation, as the Secretary in the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. Earlier, he also served as the Joint Secretary in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).
The list of achievements of IAS officer Anurag Jain is extensive. From the Public Service Guarantee Act introduced during former Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s tenure to the internationally acclaimed Jan Dhan Yojana of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Jain has played a pivotal role in these initiatives.
Notably, he received the PM Award for Excellence in Public Administration in April 2023 for his contributions to the PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan. Jain’s accomplishments have made him a trusted confidant of Prime Minister Modi. When Iqbal Singh Bains retired as Chief Secretary in 2022, Chief Minister Chouhan proposed Jain for the position. Although Jain expressed interest, Modi advised against it. Instead, he was appointed Secretary in the crucial Ministry of Road Transport and National Highways. Over his nearly 35-year career, Jain has consistently elevated the departments and ministries he has overseen.
While being in Madhya Pradesh, Mr. Jain served as the Collector of various important districts including the state capital Bhopal.
In 2019, the former Congress CM Kamal Nath appointed Mr. Jain as the head of the state’s finance department. From December 2013 to February 2014, he served as the Acting Chairman and Managing Director of the Export-Import Bank of India (EXIM Bank) too.
Hailing from Gwalior, Mr. Anurag Jain did his B.Tech Honours in Electrical Engineering from IIT Kharagpur in 1986. After coming into service, he pursued an MA degree in Public Administration from the Maxwell Institute in the USA. An excellent tennis player, he has won 11 national-level awards in the game.
Jain began his career as Assistant Collector in Sagar in June 1990, later serving in various capacities in Khurai, Kanker (now in Chhattisgarh), Chhindwara, and Durg (now in Chhattisgarh). He first took charge as Collector in Mandla in July 1997, later serving as Collector in Mandsaur and Bhopal. His appointment as Secretary in September 2005 marked a turning point, as he successfully implemented the Public Service Guarantee Act, which has since been adopted by nearly 15 states following Madhya Pradesh’s lead. While serving as Principal Secretary in the IT and Technology Department, he introduced e-tendering for procurement processes.
