India, July 16 -- Puneet Kumar Goel was on Wednesday named as the new Manipur chief secretary in place of Prashant Kumar amid efforts to restore peace in the ethnic violence-hit state and facilitate the return of some displaced people to their homes.

A personnel and training department order said the Union Cabinet's appointments committee approved its proposal for Goel's inter-cadre deputation on the curtailment of central tenure.

Officials in Manipur said the state has been relatively peaceful, but top government functionaries were unhappy with Kumar, which is why he was transferred as the top bureaucrat within seven months.

One mid-level officer, who asked not to be named, said a lot was happening behind the scenes in Manipur, and ta...