Housing & Urban Affairs Secy Manoj Joshi Shunted Out; Nidhi Khare Named Next Consumer Affairs Secy

Secretary in the Ministry of Roads, Transport and Highways Anurag Jain will hold additional charge of housing and urban affairs, the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet said in an order issued late evening.

NIdhi Khare, who until now was the Secretary, Land Resource, has been named as the next Secretary in the Ministry of Consumer Affairs. The incumbent, Rohit Singh, is to retire by end of this month. Khare will take charge upon his superannuation. Until that time, Khare is being moved to the ministry as an Officer on Special Duty, in the rank of secretary, the ACC order said.

Khare is married to Amit Khare, who retired as Secretary, Information and Broadcasting and currently serves as an adviser in the Prime Minister’s Office.

Both Joshi and Jain belong to the 1989 batch of Indian Administrative Service (IAS). Jain belongs to Madhya Pradesh, while Joshi is from the Kerala cadre.

The additional charge to Jain also assumes significance since he is considered a tough taskmaster in infrastructure projects and has worked in the PMO as joint secretary, as well as Secretary during his term in CMO in Shivraj Singh Chauhan's tenure.