Central Govt Announces Major Bureaucratic Reshuffle

Among others Vumlunmang Vualnam, IAS (MN: 1992), presently Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation, has been appointed as Secretary, Department of Expenditure, while Nikunja Bihari Dhal, IAS (OR: 1993) has been named Secretary, Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs, replacing Umang Narula, IAS (AGMUT: 1989), who retires on June 30.

Also prominent among those reshuffled are Arvind Shrivastava, IAS (KN: 1994), who was an Additional Secretary in the Prime Minister’s Office and has been appointed Secretary, Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance, while Vivek Aggarwal, IAS (MP: 1994), has been promoted as Secretary, Ministry of Culture.

Other key appointments are:

Santosh Kumar Sarangi, IAS (OR: 1994), Director-General of Foreign Trade, who has been appointed Secretary, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.

Meeta R Lochan, IAS (MH: 1990), currently Secretary, Department of Youth Affairs, who has been appointed as Secretary, National Commission for Backward Classes in the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment. She replaces A Neeraja, IFoS (UP: 1990), who is set to retire on May 31. Pallavi Jain Govil, IAS (MP: 1994), DG of Hydrocarbons, will become Secretary, Department of Youth Affairs, replacing Lochan.

K Moses Chalai, IAS (MN: 1990), Secretary, Inter-State Council Secretariat, has been appointed as Secretary, Department of Public Enterprises under the Ministry of Finance. In his place, Ashish Srivastava, IAS (MP: 1992), currently advisor at the Inter-State Council Secretariat, will take over as Secretary.

Manoj Govil, IAS (MP: 1991), Secretary, Department of Expenditure, has been appointed as Secretary (Coordination) in the Cabinet Secretariat, replacing Vandana Gurnani, IAS (KN: 1991), who has been named Secretary, Ministry of Labour & Employment.

Rajit Punhani, IAS (BH: 1991), Secretary, Rajya Sabha Secretariat, will now serve as Secretary, Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, succeeding Atul Kumar Tiwari, IAS (KN: 1990), upon his retirement on June 30.

Nidhi Chhibber, IAS (CG: 1994), Additional Secretary, NITI Aayog, has been appointed Secretary, Ministry of Food Processing Industries, She will take over after Subrata Gupta’s retirement on May 31.

Samir Kumar Sinha, IAS (AM: 1994), Additional Secretary in the Department of Defence, will be the new Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation.

Hari Ranjan Rao, IAS (MP: 1994), from the PMO, has been named as Secretary, Department of Sports.

Anuradha Thakur, IAS (HP: 1994), has been appointed Officer on Special Duty (OSD), Department of Economic Affairs, and will take over as Secretary after Ajay Seth’s superannuation on June 30.

Rajesh Agarwal, IAS (MN: 1994), has been named Special Secretary in the Department of Commerce and will take over as Secretary after Sunil Barthwal’s retirement in September.

The ACC has also upgraded the positions of two officers to Special Secretary rank: Rajesh Kumar Sinha, IAS (KL: 1994), in the Ministry of Ports, Shipping & Waterways and Ranjana Chopra, IAS (OR: 1994), in the Ministry of Culture.

Additionally, the tenure of Bharat Lal, IFoS (GJ: 1988) (retd.), has been extended as Secretary General of the National Human Rights Commission for one year beyond June 30, or until further orders.

These appointments aim to bring fresh leadership to key policy areas and ensure continuity in crucial departments ahead of several high-level retirements in mid- and late- 2025.

Please also see related story on reshuffle at the rank of additional secretaries by ACC by clicking on this link : Cabinet Approves 2nd Round of Key Bureaucratic Changes