DW BUREAU / Chandigarh

Decorated IAS officer Dr. Ravi Bhagat on Monday assumed the charge of Principal Secretary to the Punjab Chief Minister here at his office in the presence of senior officers of the state government.

Pertinently, Dr. Ravi Bhagat, a senior officer of the Indian Administrative service, had served the state government in various capacities. A 2006 batch IAS officer, Dr. Ravi Bhagat has a penchant for out of the box ideas to improve the delivery of citizen centric services to people. He is known for his proactive and responsive approach towards public service.

A doctorate in Geopolitics of MSP, Dr. Ravi Bhagat had started his coveted service as Sub Divisional Magistrate Malout 2008-2009 followed by which he served as Deputy Commissioner in Faridkot, Amritsar and Ludhiana. Apart from serving as Chief Administrator Punjab Urban Development Authority and GMADA, Secretary Mandi Board, CEO e-Governance, Director Public Relations, Secretary New and Renewable energy Resource, Dr. Ravi Bhagat has been smoothly and effectively rendering his services Special Principal Secretary to Chief Minister from 2021 till now. The officer has been credited for introducing several new innovations in Health, Education, social security and mobile governance sectors.

The path breaking initiatives taken by Dr. Ravi Bhagat for facilitating people by streamlining the services during the Covid 19 pandemic was lauded by one and all. The young officer also has several prestigious national and international awards and honors in his kitty. Likewise, under his guidance Guinness book of world record was created in 2015 when 10,000 students participated in anti-drug addiction campaign and another Guinness book of world record was created in 2018 when 82 nationalities sung a song for peace.

Meanwhile, chairing a meeting after taking charge of office, the Principal Secretary to Chief Minister said that percolation of pro-people and development oriented policies of the state government led by the Chief Minister Mr Bhagwant Singh Mann will be his top priority. Dr. Ravi Bhagat said that as per the commitment of the state government, thrust will also be laid on key sectors like education, health, employment and others. He said that the benefits of the citizen centric services will be further ensured to the people in a stipulated and time bound manner.

(editor@dailyworld.in)