J.S. Deepak has been appointed the Secretary of the Department of Telecommunications, an official statement said in Delhi on Friday. He will replace Rakesh Garg, who has been moved to Minority Affairs Ministry, almost ten months ahead of his retirement.
Mr. Deepak is currently Secretary, Department of Electronics and Information Technology.
The new Telecom Secretary is credited with successfully conducting the first ever e-auction of spectrum in 2010 that fetched government over Rs. 1.06 lakh crore in 2010, while also setting the roadmap for future auctions. He is an IIM Ahmedabad alumnus and joined the Uttar Pradesh cadre of Indian Administrative Services (IAS) in 1982.
As part of a reshuffling exercise which saw a total of ten Secretary level appointments on Friday, Aruna Sharma, a 1982 batch IAS Madhya Pradesh cadre, has been appointed the new IT Secretary, replacing Mr. Deepak.
Mr. Deepak, 57, has previously served as additional secretary in the Commerce Ministry, prior to which he was the joint secretary at the Department of Telecommunications.
Mr. Garg, a 1980 batch IAS officer, has been appointed Secretary in Minority Affairs Ministry in place of Amarendra Sinha. No reasons have been given for his exit from the Telecom Ministry. He had taken over as Telecom Secretary on July 17, 2014 and is due to retire in November.
The Appointments Committee of Cabinet also appointed Dr. Krishan Kumar Jalan, a 1982 batch IAS Haryana cadre, as Secretary, Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises. Mr Jalan is currently serving as Central Provident Fund Commissioner at Employees' Provident Fund Organization, Ministry of Labour and Employment.
