The government has promoted Defence Secretary, Suman Raj Aryal to the post of chief secretary. He will succeed Ek Narayan Aryal, who retires on Tuesday.

A Cabinet meeting on Monday decided to appoint Aryal as new chief secretary, a minister told the Post.

The new Chief Secretary Aryal has become the 29th chief secretary, the highest position in the country’s bureaucracy. Outgoing Aryal was appointed the chief secretary on July 28, 2024.

Suman Aryal entered the bureaucracy in 1996 as a section officer and gradually got promoted to the posts of under secretary, joint secretary and secretary. He became a secretary in 2021.

Previously he held positions as section officer through open competition, undersecretary through internal competition, and joint secretary through open competition.

Suman became undersecretary in 2066 BS and got promoted to the post of joint secretary in two years. Then it took nine years for him to become a secretary.

After becoming the secretary, he also served as chief secretary of Koshi Province. He then returned to Kathmandu as the Controller at Auditor General Office and served as secretary at the Ministry of Women, Children, and Senior Citizens, the Ministry of Youth and Sports, and later joined the Prime Minister’s Office. Afterward, he moved to the Ministry of Defence.

Other secretaries Pramiladevi Shakya Bajracharya, Madhusudan Burlakoti, Krishna Hari Pushkar Karn, and Ram Prasad Ghimire, among others were in the race for the top position.

The Sushila Karki government appointed Aryal as chief secretary based on seniority and work efficiency.

Prior to this, the government had promoted Dan Bahadur Karki to the position of Inspector General of Police based on seniority. It adopted the same precedent to pick the chief secretary as well.