New Delhi:In a major bureaucratic reshuffle, the government on Tuesday replaced Financial Services Secretary Gurdial Singh Sandhu with Gujarat-cadre IAS officer Hasmukh Adhia and made over 60 Special and Joint Secretary-level appointments.
Sandhu, a 1980-batch Rajasthan cadre IAS officer, has been made Chairman of the National Authority for Chemical Weapons Convention, according to a late night order issued by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT). Adhia, a 1981-batch IAS officer, is presently working as Additional Chief Secretary in the Finance Department of Gujarat government.
He served as the Principal Secretary of Education Department from April, 2008, to January, 2013, and as Principal Secretary to Narendra Modi from May, 2004, to May, 2006, when he was the Chief Minister of Gujarat. Prior to that, he was Director from 1994 to 1999 in the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion under the Ministry of Industry at New Delhi. Adhia has also held the position of Industries Commissioner, Managing Director, Gujarat Industrial Investment Corporation, as well as Vice Chairman and Managing Director, Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation. The government had earlier transferred former Revenue Secretary Rajiv Takru to the Department of North Eastern Region.
It had also shifted ex-Finance Secretary Arvind Mayaram, first to the Tourism Ministry and then, within a fortnight, to the Minority Affairs Ministry. DoPT has also issued orders for appointment of 26 Special Secretary-level officers and 35 at the level of Joint Secretary. The Vice Chairman of Delhi Development Authority (DDA), Balvender Kumar, has been promoted in the rank and pay of Secretary.
Senior IAS officers Rajiv Nayan Choubey and Devendra Chaudhary have been appointed as Special Secretaries in the Ministry of Power. The Appointments Committee of Cabinet, led by the Prime Minister, had on June 18 cancelled the appointment of Choubey as Additional Secretary in the Prime Minister’s Office.
Choubey, a 1981-batch IAS officer of Tamil Nadu cadre, was appointed in the PMO on June 14. No reason was given by the government for cancelling his appointment.
Ravinder Kumar Jain, a 1981-batch IAS officer of Himachal Pradesh cadre, has been appointed as Secretary in the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) in the rank and pay of Secretary. MC Jauhari has been transferred from the post of Joint Secretary, Ministry of Shipping, and appointed as Deputy Director General in the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI). Rajiv Arora, Joint Secretary in the Department of Commerce, has been shifted to the national intelligence grid or NATGRID in the same capacity.
Subhag Singh has been appointed as Managing Director in National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED). Singh, a 1987-batch IAS officer of Himachal Pradesh cadre, is working as Joint Secretary in Department of Defence. Vivek Joshi has been appointed as Officer on Special Duty (OSD), Procurement Policy Division, under the Department of Expenditure. He is presently Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Women and Child Development.
V Shashank Shekhar, a 1996-batch IAS officer of Nagaland cadre, has been appointed as Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Home Affairs. Mukesh Jain, a 1989-batch IPS officer of Madhya Pradesh cadre, has been transferred as Joint Secretary in the Department of Disability Affairs. Jain is presently Joint Secretary in Ministry of Power.
Maruthi Prasad Tangirala, a 1990-batch officer of Indian Post & Telecommunication Accounts and Finance Service, has been appointed as Additional Secretary (Joint Secretary-level) in the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC). BS Bhullar, a 1986-batch IAS officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre, has been appointed as Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Civil Aviation. (PTI)
