Pune: Dr Rajesh Deshmukh, who was serving as Managing Director of state-run Haffkine Bio-Pharmaceutical Corporation, has been appointed as the new District Collector for Pune. Dr Deshmukh has been asked to take charge of his new office immediately and report to the state government about the same. Sitaram Kunte, Additional Chief Secretary (Services) has issued the orders of Dr Deshmukh’s order on Monday (August 17). 

Zilla Parishad Chief Executive Officer Ayush Prasad was given the additional responsibility as Pune District Collector after Naval Kishor Ram was transferred as the Deputy Secretary in the Prime Minister Office (PMO) in New Delhi.

Pune Divisional Commissioner Saurabh Rao had issued the orders for handing over the charge of District Collector post to Prasad on August 8 (Saturday). These orders were issued four days after Ram was asked to join the PMO office. Prasad has been given the additional charge of District Collector as he is still not eligible for the post. By seniority Prasad will be eligible for this post in January 2021.

Dr Deshmukh will also be the head of Pune District Disaster Management Authority and responsible for the Covid-19 situation management in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad cities. Dr Deshmukh will be replaced by Dr Kunal Khemkar as the Managing Director of Haffkine.

After Shreekar Pardeshi and Kunal Kumar, Naval Kishor Ram is the third officer to be hand-picked by the PMO office for handling crucial responsibility at the centre. When Ram’s transfer orders were issued, four other names of officers were doing the rounds who were interested in the post of Pune District Collector. G Shreekant, District Collector of Latur, Dr Yogesh Mhase, Chief Executive Officer of MHADA in Mumbai, Suhas Divase, Commissioner of Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority (PMRDA) and Shravan Hardikar,  Commissioner of Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation were the four officers, all four closely associated with Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, were seen as contenders for the coveted post.