18 joint secretaries appointed in central govt departments

As part of a senior-level bureaucratic reshuffle effected on Monday, 18 joint secretaries have been appointed in various central government departments, according to an official order.

Abhishek Singh, a 1995 batch IAS officer of Nagaland cadre, has been appointed as secretary, agricultural scientists recruitment board (ASRB) under the Department of Agricultural Research & Education.

Navneet Gupta and Dipti Mohil Chawla have been appointed as joint secretaries of Department of Telecommunications and Department of Defence, respectively, the order issued by the Personnel Ministry said.

Nita Kejriwal and J P Agrawal, both the officers of Central Secretariat Service (CSS), have been named joint secretaries of Rural Development and Official Language Departments, respectively.

Siddhartha Singh Longjam will be joint secretary, Department of Sports, Sunil Kumar will be joint secretary, Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas and Meera Ranjan Tsering will be joint secretary, Ministry of Tribal Affairs.

IAS officer V K Dewangan has been appointed joint secretary, Ministry of Power. IPS officer Ram Prasad Meena will be joint secretary, Department of Social Justice & Empowerment, Rajesh Kumar as principal commissioner, Delhi Development Authority (DDA) and L K Meena has been named joint secretary, Ministry of Women & Child Development.

Anu Nagar, a 1995 batch officer of Indian Forest Service, has been appointed as joint secretary, Department of Health Research and Daniel Richards as joint secretary, National Commission for Minorities (NCM), the order said.

Nigar Fatima Husain will be joint secretary, Ministry of Minority Affairs, Srivats Krishna as secretary, Coffee Board and K Sunitha has been named as executive director, Tobacco Board.

Sandeep Pondrik, a 1993 batch IAS officer of Bihar cadre, has been appointed as advisor, National Disaster Management Authority under the Home Ministry.