Ranchi, Dec. 31: Chief minister Shibu Soren today appointed 1987-batch IAS officer Sukhdev Singh as his principal secretary.

A state government notification issued today said Singh, currently water resources secretary and holding additional charge of transport, health, medical education and family welfare, had been transferred as the principal secretary to the chief minister. It, however, clarified that apart from acting as principal secretary, Singh would continue to hold his previous charges.

This is the IAS officer’s second stint as principal secretary. Earlier, in August 2006, then chief minister Madhu Koda had also appointed Singh, known to be honest and upright. He held the post till Koda was shunted out by Shibu Soren in August 2008.

Soren opted for B.K.Tripathy then. This time, however, the newly inducted chief minister has chosen Singh as his principal secretary given the tricky task of managing as diverse a coalition as the JMM, BJP, JD(U) and Ajsu.