Patna: Chief minister Nitish Kumar has appointed former chief secretary Gurminder Singh Kang as the deputy chairman of Bihar State Planning Board (BSPB). He joined the position on Saturday.

Talking to The Telegraph, Kang said: "I arrived this morning and joined the planning board as deputy chairman. There is no fixed tenure for the post."

As deputy chairman, he will enjoy the rank of a cabinet minister and will report directly to Nitish, who happens to be the chairman of BSPB.

"There is a lot to do. I will hold a meeting with my officers in a couple of days and discuss various things with them to fix our priorities," Kang said.

The 72-year-old was chief secretary of Bihar from February 2005 to September 2006. He has been known as a fair, straightforward, no-nonsense and efficient official.

Kang was roped in by Nitish in 2016 as an adviser to successfully organise the 350th Prakash Utsav or birth anniversary of Guru Gobind Singh, the 10th and last Guru of the Sikhs, who was born in Patna. The celebrations in 2017 made history and attracted global praise for Bihar.

Later, Kang was appointed chairman of the state pay commission, constituted to match and implement the recommendations of the central government's seventh pay commission in Bihar.

The former IAS officer is also known for his tiff with the then Bihar governor Buta Singh while President's Rule was imposed in the state. It was related to taking away powers vested with top officials to which Kang objected and stopped attending his office. The issue was resolved later.