Former Union home secretary and retired IAS officer Raj Kumar Singh is all set to render his services to the state again. He is tipped to become the adviser to chief minister Nitish Kumar and a formal notification is expected soon.

Sources said Singh would be given the rank of minister of state. He would oversee the functioning of road construction, rural works, building construction and urban development departments.

“The chief minister stands for effective implementation of projects of the said departments and he would use Singh to suggest ways for realising the goal in the capacity of his adviser,” a source closely associated in the several rounds of discussions on roping in Singh told The Telegraph.

Singh, a 1975-batch IAS officer who retired from service on June 30 this year, took time before making up his mind for the assignment. The offer for accepting the adviser’s post, said the source, was given to him immediately after retirement but he sought time before making up his mind. “Singh gave his consent after a detailed discussion with the chief minister,” the source said.

Singh’s performance earlier in delivering in the stipulated time frame is said to have played a major role in his selection for the post. He was made the principal secretary of the road construction department immediately after Nitish came to power in November 2005. He remained on the same post till he went on central deputation in August 2009. Construction of quality roads turned out to be a major achievement of the Nitish Kumar government in his first term. He was given the additional charge of the disaster management department after the flood in 2007.

This is not the first time that Nitish has roped in the services of a person with proven credentials as adviser to him. Pawan Verma, a former diplomat, is his cultural adviser. P.K. Rai, who was at the helm of Bihar State Power (Holding) Company Limited, was appointed his energy adviser few months ago.