As many as 21 Joint Secretaries were appointed in different Central government departments on Monday as part of a mid-level bureaucratic reshuffle.
Of the total number of officials, nine are from the Indian Administrative Service (IAS). The remaining are from other services such as the Indian Forest Service and the Indian Audit and Accounts Service.
Major appointment
A prominent appointment is that of 1989-batch Gujarat cadre IAS official K. Srinivas. Mr. Srinivas has been appointed as Joint Secretary in the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT). He is currently Principal Secretary (Revenue) in the State government, and was Personnel Secretary when Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat.
Two IAS officials of the Tamil Nadu cadre— Jatindra Nath Swain of the 1988 batch and K.Rajaraman of 1989 batch— have been appointed as JS in the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy and Department of Expenditure, respectively.
Other IAS officials who figure in the list include Anil Srivastava as Advisor to NITI Aayog, Upma Srivastav as Joint Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation, P.K. Borthaumar as JS, Agriculture, Shantmanu as Development Commissioner (Handicrafts), Pramod Tiwari as JS, Food and Public Distribution, and Nidhi Chibber as JS in the Department of Defence.
Sources said a major Secretary-level reshuffle is also expected to happen soon to fill in several vacancies.
Among those who are set to retire this month are Defence Secretary G. Mohan Kumar and Economics Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das. Mr. Das' tenure had been extended in January.
Officials said the appointments would be made from the pool of 1984 and 1985 batch IAS officials.
“The empanelment list will be out soon,” an official involved in the appointment process said.