Centre approves IAS appointments: Here are the new secretaries taking office soon
Samir Kumar Sinha, Additional Secretary & Director General (Acquisition), Department of Defence, will now move to the Civil Aviation Ministry as Secretary
The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC), under the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, on Friday announced the approval of various IAS appointments. A significant chunk of them came from the 1994 IAS batch under various state cadres.
Samir Kumar Sinha, IAS (Assam-Meghalaya cadre: 1994 batch) was escalated to the Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation. Sinha would take the post from Vumlunmang Vualnam, following Vualnam's appointment as Secretary, the Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance.
PMO Additional Secretary, Hari Ranjan Rao, lAS (MP:94) was also appointed as Officer on Special Duty, Department of Sports, Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports. Rao will be in the rank and pay of Secretary. “The officer will take over as Secretary, Department of Sports, Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports” read the circular.
Other significant postings included Rajesh Kumar Sinha, IAS (KL:94) as Special Secretary, Ministry of Ports, Shipping & Waterways; Ranjana Chopra, IAS (OR:94) as Special Secretary & Financial Advisor, Ministry of Culture.
The ACC also extended the tenure of Bharat Lal, IFoS (Retired), as Secretary General, National Human Rights Commission “on contract basis for a period of one year” beyond June 30, 2025.
Most of the IAS rejig comes into effect on the superannuation of officers in currently assigned positions and/or reassigning of IAS posts—most of them falling on May 31, 2025.
Other postings in the ACC notification include:
Meeta R. Lochan, IAS (MH:90) will be the Secretary, National Commission for Backward Classes, Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment. K Moses Chalai, IAS (MN:90) will be the Secretary, Department of Public Enterprises, Ministry of Finance. Manoj Govil, lAS (MP:91) will be Secretary (Coordination), Cabinet Secretariat. Vandana Gurnani, IAS (KN:91) will be Secretary, Ministry of Labour & Employment. Rajit Punhani, IAS (BH:91) to be Secretary, Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship.
Ashish Srivastava, IAS (MP:92) will be Secretary, Inter State Council Secretariat, Ministry of Home Affairs. Vumlunmang Vualnam, AS (MN:92) will be Secretary, Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance. Nikunja Bihari Dhal, lAS (OR:93) to be Secretary, Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs
Rakesh Kumar Verma, lAS (PB:93) will take on the role of Director General, India International Institute of Democracy and Election Management (the rank and pay of Secretary).
Anuradha Thakur, IAS (HP:94) will be on Special Duty, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance (the rank and pay of Secretary).
Shri Rajesh Agarwal, IAS (MN:94) to be Special Secretary, Department of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce & Industry. Arvind Shrivastava, IAS (KN:94) will be Secretary, Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance. Vivek Aggarwal, IAS (MP:94) is set to be Secretary, Ministry of Culture, while Santosh Kumar Sarangi, IAS (OR:94) will take over as Secretary, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.
Pallavi Jain Govil, IAS (MP:94) will serve as Secretary, Department of Youth Affairs, Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports. Nidhi Chhibber, IAS (CG:94) will take on Special Duty, Ministry of Food Processing Industries (the rank and pay of Secretary).
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