Abul Kalam Azad appointed as Chief Coordinator for SDG affairs in PMO

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has retained her confidante Abul Kalam Azad in her office by creating a new post.

Azad has been appointed as the 'Chief Coordinator for Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Affairs in the Prime Minister's Office.'

The public administration ministry issued the circular late on Sunday. It said that Azad has been appointed to the post for three years.

Senior Secretary Kamal Abdul Naser Chowdhury, also a long-time Hasina loyalist, has been named Azad's replacement as the Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister.

Chowdhury, who was due to retire next month, has been given a two-year extension to his service.

Officials at the public administration ministry said that the new designation of an SDG affairs chief coordinator has been created to keep Azad in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO).

In February 2015, the government appointed Azad as the principal secretary to the PM.

Azad, a 1982 batch civil services officer, also served as the secretary to the PMO and in economics relations division and power division as the secretary.