Anil Goswami, Secretary in the Social Justice and Empowerment Ministry, has been appointed Union Home Secretary, official sources said here on Friday. He is the first Jammu and Kashmir cadre IAS officer to be appointed to the top post in North Block.
Mr. Goswami will take over from R. K. Singh, who retires on June 30 after a two-year term as Home Secretary. Mr. Goswami would soon start functioning as Officer-on-Special Duty in the Ministry to acquaint himself with all aspects of its working, the sources said. Mr. Goswami emerged winner in the race for the post — in which Steel Secretary D.R.S. Chaudhary and Department of Personnel and Training Secretary P. K. Misra were also in the reckoning — with the UPA government reposing its trust in him for skilfully managing internal security that faces manifold challenges on several fronts. He will have a fixed two-year term and will be at the helm of affairs when general elections are held in 2014.
