Who among the following was not acted as the Chief Secretary of Madhya Pradesh?
- (a)R. P. Naik
- (b)B. K. Dubey
- (c)R. S. Khanna
- (d)P. K. Noronha
Correct — D, P. K. Noronha. No Chief Secretary of Madhya Pradesh has held office under the name 'P. K. Noronha'. The Noronha closely tied to the post is R. P. Noronha (Ronald Piedade Noronha), one of the state's longest-serving Chief Secretaries and author of the well-known service memoir 'A Tale Told by an Idiot' (1976). The option's initials 'P. K.' do not match him — that mismatch is the trap. The other three names each did serve as Chief Secretary of MP, so the one who did NOT is P. K. Noronha.
- (a)R. P. Naik — He served as a Chief Secretary of Madhya Pradesh, so he is not the odd one out in a 'who was not' question.
- (b)B. K. Dubey — He too held the office of Chief Secretary of MP, so he is not the correct 'was not' answer.
- (c)R. S. Khanna — He also served as Chief Secretary of MP; the question turns instead on the mismatched initials of the Noronha option.
The Chief Secretary is the administrative head of a state government — the senior-most civil servant (an IAS officer), secretary to the state Cabinet, and head of the state secretariat. In Madhya Pradesh the office sits in Vallabh Bhawan, Bhopal. Questions like this test recall of the state's list of Chief Secretaries; here the trick is a near-identical surname (Noronha) carried by the wrong initials.
Three of the four names are genuine MP Chief Secretaries; the fourth swaps the initials of the famous R. P. Noronha. Spotting that initial mismatch is the whole task — treat 'P. K. Noronha' as a name that does not appear on the state's Chief Secretary rolls.
- The Chief Secretary is the senior-most civil servant and administrative head of a state government.
- R. P. Noronha (Ronald Piedade Noronha) was among MP's longest-serving Chief Secretaries and wrote the memoir 'A Tale Told by an Idiot' (1976).
- The MP state secretariat, where the Chief Secretary sits, is Vallabh Bhawan in Bhopal.
- By convention the Chief Secretary is chosen by the Chief Minister; there is no fixed statutory tenure for the post.
- Confusing R. P. Noronha with the option's 'P. K. Noronha'
- Assuming the Governor (rather than the Chief Minister) selects the Chief Secretary
MPPSC asks state-specific 'who was / was not the Chief Secretary (or Governor / CM) of MP'; UPSC asks the constitutional and administrative role of the Chief Secretary.
Consider the following statements: 1. The Chief Secretary in a State is appointed by the Governor of that State. 2. The Chief Secretary in a State has a fixed tenure. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- (a) 1 only
- (b) 2 only
- (c) Both 1 and 2
- (d) Neither 1 nor 2
Answer(d) Neither 1 nor 2
Same office — UPSC tested how the Chief Secretary is selected and that the post has no fixed tenure; this MP question tests who did/did not hold that same office.
- practice — not a real PYQ
The Chief Secretary of a State is best described as the:
- (a)constitutional head of the state
- (b)administrative head of the state government / senior-most civil servant
- (c)head of the State Public Service Commission
- (d)finance minister of the state
Answer(b) the administrative head of the state government / senior-most civil servant.
- practice — not a real PYQ
The well-known civil-service memoir 'A Tale Told by an Idiot' was written by which former Chief Secretary of Madhya Pradesh?
- (a)R. P. Noronha
- (b)Nirmala Buch
- (c)B. K. Dubey
- (d)R. S. Khanna
Answer(a) R. P. Noronha.