Chief Secretary of Bihar, Arun Kumar Singh, died due to Covid-19 here on Friday.
A 1985-batch IAS officer, Singh was appointed as Bihar’s Chief Secretary on February 28 this year. Prior to this, he was Development Commissioner in the state. He is the fourth IAS officer in Bihar who passed away due to Covid-19 this month.
Singh, who was afflicted with coronavirus on April 15, was admitted to a private hospital where he passed away on Friday. His last rites will be performed with full state honours.
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who was presiding over a Cabinet meeting on Friday, was informed about the Chief Secretary’s demise as soon as the meet was over. “We have lost an able administrator. My heartfelt condolences to the family,” said Nitish, while paying tributes to the top-most bureaucrat.
Meanwhile, 13,089 fresh Covid cases were reported from Bihar in the last 24 hours. “Altogether 97,972 samples were collected for Covid test. Out of which 13,089 persons were found to be coronavirus positive. This takes the tally of active cases to 1,00,821,” said a Health Department official, adding that altogether 89 deaths have also taken place due to Covid in the last 24 hours.
In the meantime, the vaccination exercise for those between 18 and 44 years of age, which was slated to begin in Bihar from May 1, has been deferred until further orders due to non-procurement of adequate vaccines.