The Centre effected a significant bureaucratic reshuffle Monday, appointing nine secretary-level officers in multiple ministries and departments, and promoting eight additional secretaries to special secretaries by upgrading their posts.
Among the key ministries that have got new secretaries are those for Jal Shakti, Environment, Housing, Petroleum, and Steel. The Department of Consumer Affairs, too, has got a new secretary.
While 1987-batch IAS officer Sanjay Kumar Singh (Madhya Pradesh cadre) has been appointed Steel Secretary, V Srinivas of the Rajasthan Cadre (1989 batch) will be secretary for the Department of Administrative Reforms & Public Grievances (DARPG) and Department of Pensions & Pensioners Welfare (DoPPW).
Srinivas replaces Singh who is currently the DARPG Secretary. Srinivas is currently Special Secretary in DARPG.
Manoj Joshi, Special Secretary at the Ministry of Food Processing Industries, has been appointed as Officer on Special Duty for the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs. He will take over as Secretary for this ministry after the superannuation of Durga Shanker Mishra this month-end, a Personnel Ministry order said.
Bharat Lal, a 1988-batch Indian Forest Service officer (Gujarat cadre), has been appointed Secretary to the Lokpal. Lal is Additional Secretary, Department of Drinking Water & Sanitation, Ministry of Jal Shakti.
Pankaj Jain, Additional Secretary, Department of Financial Services, has been appointed Secretary at the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas.
Vini Mahajan has been appointed Secretary at the Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation, Ministry of Jal Shakti. Mahajan, a 1987-batch IAS officer, is presently working in her cadre state Punjab.
Leena Nandan, Secretary, Department of Consumer Affairs, Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, has been named Secretary of Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change. Rameshwar Prasad Gupta’s tenure will superannuate on December 31.
Rohit Kumar Singh, Special Secretary, Ministry of Culture will be Secretary, Department of Consumer Affairs, in place of Nandan.
Rajeev Ranjan, Special Secretary, Department of Expenditure, has been appointed Secretary at the National Commission for Backward Classes.
Meanwhile, IAS officers Sanjay Malhotra (Rajasthan cadre), Alka Kumar Sharma (Kerala cadre), Raj Kumar Goyal (J&K) and Manoj Ahuja (Orissa cadre) have been promoted as Secretary in their respective posts by upgrading the same. IFoS officer Rajesh Kumar Chaudhry (Punjab), IAAS officers Annie George Mathew and Meera Swarup and IRS officer Shashank Priya have also been promoted as Secretary in their respective posts.