New Delhi, May 30 (PTI): Cabinet secretary B.K. Chaturvedi, who was due to retire next month, has been given a year’s extension by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, ending weeks of speculation.

The Prime Minister “has extended, by a period of one year, the term of appointment of Chaturvedi as cabinet secretary...,” Singh’s media adviser Sanjaya Baru said today.

Chaturvedi, an IAS officer of 1966 batch from Uttar Pradesh cadre, replaced Kamal Pande, whose two-year fixed tenure was cut short when the United Progressive Alliance came to power.

He was shifted to the Planning Commission in 2004.