36 new additional secretaries appointed

The government late on Wednesday evening announced as many as 36 appointments, most of these at the additional secretary level.  While some civil servants have been brought from the cadre, most have been designated additional secretary by upgrading the post of joint secretary across many ministries for a period of two years.

Nikhilesh Jha, a 1984 batch Manipur-Tripura cadre IAS, has been named mission director at the  National Water Mission under the ministry of water resources. This is a new post that has been created with focus on river projects, especially cleaning of the Ganga. Jha has been brought from the cadre.

Other appointments include that of Yogendra Tripathi, a 1985 batch Karnataka cadre IAS, as chairman and managing director of Food Corporation of India.

Currently, Tripathi is joint secretary, Department of School Education in the HRD ministry. Deepak Kumar, a 1984 batch Bihar cadre IAS, has become the director general at Employees State Insurance Corporation, from the current post of additional secretary labour. Also, Arun Goel, a 1985 batch Punjab cadre IAS, has been appointed vice-chairman of the Delhi Development Authority (DDA). Goel is coming from the post of joint secretary at the department of revenue in the finance ministry.

In another significant change, Kavita Gupta, a 1985 batch Maharashtra cadre IAS, has been moved to the Department of Atomic Energy as additional secretary, from her present position of additional Director General of Foreign Trade in Mumbai. Other interministerial shifts include Bhagwati Prasad Pandey moving to power ministry as additional secretary from commerce ministry in the same post.

Meanwhile, several officers have been upgraded from joint secretary to additional secretary in various ministries and departments including  defence production, environment,  expenditure, petroleum, home, urban development, commerce, electronics and information technology, health and power.