New Delhi: The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet on Friday cleared the promotions of top IAS officers to fill key Secretary-level posts which have or are going to fall vacant due to the superannuation of incumbents, along with an accompanying reshuffle in posts. The exercise involves changes in around 20 top-level posts in various ministries at the Centre.
IAS officer Arvind Shrivastava, who was Additional Secretary at the Prime Minister’s Office, has been appointed as the new Revenue Secretary in the Ministry of Finance. Civil Aviation Secretary Vumlunmang Vualnam has been named as Secretary, Department of Expenditure, in the Ministry of Finance. He succeeds Manoj Govil, who has been appointed as Secretary (Coordination), Cabinet Secretariat. Govil replaces Vandana Gurnani, who has been laterally moved from the Cabinet Secretariat as the new Union Secretary, Ministry of Labour & Employment. She replaces Sumita Dawra, who retired on March 31.
Samir Kumar Sinha, who is currently the Additional Secretary & Director General (Acquisition), Department of Defence, will be the new Civil Aviation Secretary. Anuradha Thakur, an IAS officer of the Himachal Pradesh cadre, has been picked as the next Union Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, in the rank and pay of Secretary at the Centre. She will take charge as Officer on Special Duty, DEA and will take over from Ajay Seth on his superannuation on June 30. Currently, she is the Additional Secretary, Ministry of Corporate Affairs. Rajesh Agarwal has been appointed as the next Union Secretary, Commerce. He was elevated (in situ) as Special Secretary in the Department of Commerce, where he is serving as Additional Secretary. He will succeed the outgoing Commerce Secretary, Sunil Barthwal, upon his superannuation on September 30.
Vivek Aggarwal, a 1994 batch IAS officer of Madhya Pradesh cadre, has been appointed as Secretary, Ministry of Culture. Currently, Additional Secretary in the Department of Revenue, he is also holding the charge of Director, Financial Intelligence Unit-India (FIU-IND). He will be moving to his new post on a promotion.
Other senior officers have been appointed to key central government departments as part of the bureaucratic rejig, include Santosh Kumar Sarangi, who has been appointed as Secretary, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy. The post fell vacant after P.K. Singh moved to his state cadre, Manipur, as Chief Secretary. Currently, Sarangi is working as Director General, Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) under the Ministry of Commerce & Industry. (IANS)
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