New Delhi, March 31 – The Centre announced a major reshuffle of top-level bureaucrats on Tuesday, with new Secretaries appointed to head the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, the Department of Financial Services, the Ministry of Tourism, and the Department of Chemicals and Petro-Chemicals.
Chanchal Kumar, Secretary of the Ministry of Development of the North Eastern Region, a Bihar cadre IAS officer of the 1992 batch, has been appointed as Secretary of the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, swapping places with his batchmate, Sanjay Jaju, who held the position.
Sanjay Lohiya, an IAS officer of the 1994 batch, who was holding the position of Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Mines, has been appointed as Special Secretary in the Department of Financial Services of the Ministry of Finance, by temporarily upgrading a vacant Joint Secretary position in the department. He will replace Nagaraju Maddirala, a 1993 cadre IAS officer, who will retire on May 31, 2026.
Bhuvnesh Kumar, a UP cadre IAS officer of the 1995 batch, who was holding the position of Chief Executive Officer of the Unique Identification Authority of India, has been appointed as Secretary of the Ministry of Tourism, replacing Srivatsa Krishna, a Kerala cadre IAS officer of the 1994 batch. Krishna has been moved to the position of Secretary of the Ministry of Minority Affairs, replacing Chandra Sekhar Kumar. Chandra Sekhar Kumar, an Orissa cadre IAS officer of the 1992 batch, has been appointed as Chief Executive Officer of the National Rainfed Area Authority in the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, at the rank and pay of a Secretary.
Nivedita Shukla Verma, Secretary of the Department of Chemicals and Petro-Chemicals, a UP cadre IAS officer of the 1991 batch, has been replaced by Tejveer Singh, a Punjab cadre IAS officer of the 1994 batch. He will now hold the position of Secretary of the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances, with additional responsibility for the Secretary position in the Department of Pensions and Pensioners Welfare in the Ministry of Personnel.
Narendra Bhooshan, also a UP cadre IAS officer of the 1992 batch, has been appointed as Secretary of the Department of Land Resources in the Ministry of Rural Development.
Rohit Kansal, an IAS officer of the AGMUT cadre's 1995 batch and currently Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Textiles, has been appointed as Secretary of the Department of Rural Development in the Ministry of Rural Development, replacing Shailesh Kumar Singh, who is retiring on March 31.
Bharat Harbanslal Khera, a 1996 batch IAS officer of the Himachal Pradesh cadre, and currently Additional Secretary in the Department of Consumer Affairs, Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, has been appointed as Officer on Special Duty in the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, at the rank and pay of a Secretary. He will replace Subhas Chandra Lal Das, who is retiring on April 30.
Abhishek Singh, a 1995 batch IAS officer of the Nagaland cadre, and currently Director General of the National Informatics Centre, Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology, has been appointed as Director General of the National Testing Agency, Ministry of Education, at the rank and pay of a Secretary, by temporarily upgrading the position.
The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has also approved the in-situ upgradation of the following officers to the level of Special Secretary in the rank and pay of Secretary to the Government by temporarily upgrading the positions held by them:
These include Sanjay Rastogi, a 1991 batch Odisha cadre IAS officer, currently the Director General of the National Archives of India, Ministry of Culture, and Sajjan Singh Yadav, a 1996 cadre AGMUT IAS officer, and Additional Secretary in the Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance, as Special Secretary in the same position.