New Delhi. In Uttar Pradesh today, senior IAS officer Shashi Prakash Goel took over as the new Chief Secretary. Chief Secretary Manoj Kumar Singh retired this evening after which SP Goyal took charge. SP Goyal is a 1989 batch IAS officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre. He is counted among the very close and trusted officers of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. Since the formation of Yogi government, SP Goyal has been posted in the fifth floor i.e. the Chief Minister’s Office. Before assuming the post of Caf Secretary, Goyal was holding responsibility as Additional Chief Secretary to the Chief Minister. He also has a strong hold in UP’s bureaucracy.

There was speculation that Manoj Kumar Singh could get service extension but this did not happen and the order to appoint SP Goyal as the new Chief Secretary was issued from the government. After the order was issued, SP Goyal reached Lok Bhavan in the evening and took over. Manoj Kumar Singh welcomed him by giving him a bouquet and congratulated him for the new responsibility. SP Goyal has played many important responsibilities well while holding many big positions during his tenure.

Goyal, who hails from the state capital Lucknow, was born in 1967. His first posting as Assistant Magistrate in Etawah was his first posting. After this, Goyal was also posted as Chief Development Officer (CDO) in Aligarh, Bahraich and Meerut. He has also held the responsibility as DM of Mathura, Etawah, Prayagraj and Deoria districts. SP Goyal has also worked in Delhi during central deputation. In the first term of the Narendra Modi government, he has held the post of Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Human Resources. Later in 2017, when the BJP government was formed in Uttar Pradesh, Goyal returned to his original cadre.