Odisha-cadre IAS officer Rajesh Verma was on Thursday appointed as the secretary to President of India Draupadi Murmu.

IAS Verma was appointed by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet.

A 1987-batch Odisha cadre IAS, Verma was serving as Secretary to the Ministry of Corporate Affairs and will replace the incumbent Kapil Dev Tripathi, a 1980-batch IAS officer.

Earlier, IAS Verma served as the secretary to Chief Minister of Odisha Naveen Patnaik. He was also secretary of Energy Department, Government of Odisha.

President Draupadi Murmu is a tribal hailing from Odisha. She created history by becoming the first tribal and second woman to become the President of India.

She is also the first President who is born after Independence and the youngest to hold the top constitutional post.