TLI Staff
New Delhi: In a top deck reshuffle in central bureaucracy, the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has appointed senior IAS (Indian Administrative Service) officer Arvind Singh as Tourism Secretary.
Singh currently holds the post of Chairman, Airport Authority of India (AAI).
The ACC cleared posting of a dozen other IAS officers at Secretary level, the senior most officer in a government department, while approving in-situ promotion of five career bureaucrats.
Gujarat cadre officer Bidyut Bihari Swain has been given the charge of Secretary, Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises. Prime Minister Modi’s close confidante AK Sharma recently quit the post to join ruling BJP.
As per an official order, IAS officer from Madhya Pradesh cadre Deepak Khandekar would be the new Secretary of Department of Personnel & Training, the agency tasked with the responsibility of being the cadre controlling authority for the IAS and the three Secretariat Services in the Central Secretariat.
Upendra Prasad Singh, 1985-batch IAS officer from Odisha cadre would be the new Secretary at Ministry of Textiles. Singh previously held the position of Secretary in Department of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation.
Rajesh Chaturvedi has been appointed as Secretary, Department of Fertilizers, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers.
Chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the ACC approved appointment of 1988-batch IAS officer of Uttar Pradesh Alok Kumar as Power Secretary. He will replace Sanjeev Nandan Sahai, who is retiring on January 31.
The ACC has named 1986 batch IAS officer of Uttar Pradesh Alok Tandon as Mines Secretary. He is currently in his home cadre Uttar Pradesh. Tandon’s batchmate and IAS officer of Odisha cadre GV Venugopala Sarma has been appointed as Chairman of National Authority, Chemical Weapons Convention.
The ACC also upgraded the position of five IAS officers to the level of Special Secretary in the rank and pay of Secretary to the Government of India. These officers are Praveen Garg of MP cadre, Sukhbir Singh Sandhu of Uttarakhand cadre, Anjali Bhawara of Punjab cadre, Jatindra Nath Swain of Tamil Nadu cadre and Anil Kumar Jha belonging to Karnataka cadre.