Bureaucratic circles say it is likely. The state’s administration is widely understood to be backing her elevation. If confirmed, she would be the second woman to hold the top bureaucratic post in Maharashtra.
Mhaiskar is a 1992-batch IAS officer. She is presently the Additional Chief Secretary (Home). She took charge of the home portfolio in February 2026. In that role she oversees law and order, police administration and disaster response.
Insiders expect her to succeed Rajesh Agrawal on December 1. The timing, they say, aligns with the routine transfer cycle and the government’s preference for continuity ahead of year-end tasks.
Mhaiskar’s career spans municipal, urban and infrastructure assignments. She spent significant time at the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, including a spell as Additional Municipal Commissioner. Her longest secretariat posting was in the Urban Development Department. She has also handled Environment, Protocol, Medical Education and PWD portfolios.
Her handling of the COVID-19 period is often cited inside the service. Colleagues point to clear orders and decisive coordination between municipal and health agencies as evidence of her crisis management skills. That record has bolstered calls within the bureaucracy to see her as a safe pair of hands for the state’s top job.
She follows a conventional administrative trajectory. Early district and municipal roles gave her operational grounding. Later secretariat tenures added policy and institutional experience. The combination of field and city-level assignments is a common route to senior leadership in the state administration.
Mhaiskar’s professional profile also reflects steady command over complex urban systems. In Mumbai, she managed large civic operations and multiple stakeholder interests. That experience is seen as particularly relevant for a state where urban governance and law-and-order issues often intersect.
Not everyone speaks in unqualified praise. Some observers note that the chief secretary’s job will demand political acumen as much as bureaucratic skill. The state government faces routine administrative challenges alongside seasonal crises. The incoming chief secretary will need to align departmental priorities with the political leadership’s agenda.
For now, the story remains one of likely succession rather than formal appointment. Horse-trading and consultations at the political and administrative levels typically continue up to the last moment. The official confirmation, if it comes, will make clear whether the state has opted for institutional continuity or a different path.
Either way, Mhaiskar’s probable elevation would mark a notable moment in Maharashtra’s administrative history. It would reinforce a slow but steady trend of women reaching the highest state bureaucratic posts — and it would place a career municipal and secretariat leader at the helm of the state’s civil service at a time when governance demands quick, coordinated action.
