Centre appoints SSC, UIDAI chiefs in major bureaucratic rejig

The Centre on Tuesday cleared appointments of several senior bureaucrats in multiple ministries and departments with Braj Raj Sharma and Pankaj Kumar being appointed chiefs of Staff Selection Commission (SSC) and Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), respectively.

The appointments were approved by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC).

According to the official order, Braj Raj Sharma, a 1984 batch IAS officer working as Secretary in the Home Ministry's Department of Border Management, has been given the charge of SSC chairman.

The ACC has granted approval to appoint Pankaj Kumar, Additional Secretary in Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, the CEO of UIDAI, which is entrusted with the task of issuing Aadhar card.

Kumar has been temporarily upgraded to the post and will be on the rank and pay of Secretary, the appointment order stated.

National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) chairman Nagendra Nath Sinha, 1987 batch Jharkhand cadre IAS officer, has been given the charge of Secretary, Department of Border Management, which falls under the Home Ministry.

The 1985 batch IAS officer Sanjeev Gupta, who is Special Secretary at Inter-State Council Secretariat under the Home Ministry, has been elevated to the post of Secretary the Secretariat.

"The ACC also approved in-situ upgradation of the IAS officers of the 1987 batch to the level of Special Secretary in the rank and pay of Secretary to the Central government, as a measure personal to them, by temporarily upgrading the posts held by them," added the order.