Centre reshuffles 15 senior bureaucrats in a major rejig

New Delhi: Senior IAS officer Sudhansh Pant has been named as the new Health Secretary as part of a top-level bureaucratic reshuffle effected by the Centre on Tuesday.

Pant, a 1991-batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of Rajasthan cadre, is currently Secretary in the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways.

He has been appointed as the Officer on Special Duty (OSD), Department of Health and Family Welfare.

The officer will take over as Secretary, Department of Health and Family Welfare, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, upon retirement of Rajesh Bhushan on July 31, 2023, an order issued by the Personnel Ministry said.

T K Ramachandran, chairman of V O Chidambaranar Port Trust, Tuticorin, will be Secretary, Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways in place of Pant.

Chanchal Kumar, Managing Director of National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd., has been named as the new Civil Aviation Secretary.

"The officer will join as Officer on Special Duty, Ministry of Civil Aviation in the rank and pay of Secretary to the government of India on 01.08.2023 and take over as Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation vice Shri Rajiv Bansal, lAS (NL:88) upon his superannuation on 31 .08.2023," the order said.

A total of 15 senior bureaucrats have been appointed in different central government departments in Tuesday's rejig.

Pankaj Agrawal, Additional Secretary and Director General (Acquisition), Ministry of Defence, will be the new Power Secretary.

He has been appointed as OSD, Ministry of Power and the officer will take over as Secretary of the ministry upon superannuation of Alok Kumar this month end.

Senior bureaucrat Atal Dulloo has been appointed as Secretary, Department of Border Management, Ministry of Home Affairs. He will succeed Dharmendra S Gangwar, who is due to superannuate on June 30.

Rameshwar Prasad Gupta, a 1987-batch Gujarat-cadre retired IAS officer, has been appointed as Chairman & Managing Director, Solar Energy Corporation of India Ltd. on contract basis for a period of two years, the order said.

Bharat Lal, who is at present Director General of National Centre for Good Governance, has been appointed as Secretary General, National Human Rights Commission on contract basis for a period of one year.

He will succeed Devendra Kumar Singh, who is due to retire from service on June 30.

Debashree Mukherjee will be Secretary, Department of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation.

Mukherjee, who is currently Special Secretary in the same department, will succeed Pankaj Kumar, upon his superannuation on September 30.

Rajat Kumar Mishra, Additional Secretary in the Department of Economic Affairs, has been appointed as Secretary, Department of Fertilizers.

Subhas Chandra Lal Das, Director General of Hydrocarbons, will now be Secretary, Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, the order said.

Nivedita Shukla Verma, Special Secretary in the Department of Defence, will be new Secretary, Department of Chemicals and Petro-Chemicals. She has been appointed as OSD, Department of Chemicals and Petro-Chemicals with effect from August 1.

Verma will take over as Secretary, Department of Chemicals and Petro-Chemicals, upon superannuation of Arun Baroka on August 31.

Vibhu Nayar, Additional Secretary & Financial Advisor, Ministry of External Affairs will be Tribal Affairs Secretary.

He has been appointed as Special Secretary & Financial Advisor in the External Affairs Ministry.

The officer will join as OSD, Ministry of Tribal Affairs on November 1, 2023 and take over as the Secretary after retirement of Anil Kumar Jha on November 30.

S Gopalakrishnan, Special Secretary in the Department of Health & Family Welfare, has been appointed as Director General, National Productivity Council. He will replace Sundeep Kumar Nayak, who will be superannuating on July 31.

Chhattisgarh-cadre IAS officer Renu Gonela Pillay will be Secretary, National Commission for Scheduled Castes, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. She will succeed Upma Srivastava, who retires on July 31.

Pillay's batchmate Seema Jain, presently serving in her cadre state Punjab, will be Member Finance, Space Commission. She will take over the charge from Talleen Kumar, who is due to superannuate on July 31.

The officer will also hold additional charge of Member Finance, Earth Commission and Atomic Energy Commission (with headquarters at New Delhi), the order said.

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved in-situ upgradation of two officers to the level of Special Secretary by temporarily upgrading the post held by them.

Pramod Kumar Tiwari, Director General, Bureau of Indian Standards, Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution will now be at the rank and pay of Secretary to the government of India.

Vijay Kumar, Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Cooperation, will be Special Secretary in the same ministry.