Acting chief of Natgrid shifted; 15 new JS appointed

Senior IAS officer Rajiv Arora, acting chief of Natgrid--a proposed intelligence gathering mechanism--has been shifted as Joint Secretary in Labour and Employment Ministry as part of a major mid-level bureaucratic reshuffle effected today.
A total of 15 new Joint Secretaries have been appointed in various central government ministries. In these, there are only four IAS officers and rest belong to other services like Indian Police Service (IPS) and Indian Revenue Service (IRS), among others.
This comes amidst demand from various Group A services seeking equal job opportunities enjoyed by IAS officers.
Arora, a 1987 batch IAS officer of Haryana cadre, has been appointed as JS in Labour and Employment ministry for a period of overall five year of central deputation upto November 14, 2017, an order issued by Department of Personnel and Training.

He was working as Joint Secretary in Natgrid -- a robust intelligence gathering mechanism being set up to track any terror suspect and incident to enhance India's counter terror capabilities--under Home Ministry. Arora was also acting Chief Executive Officer of the body. The post of CEO has been lying vacant after completion of tenure of Raghu Raman in May 2014.
Arora has been appointed in place of G Venugopal Reddy, who has been sent back to his cadre--Railway Ministry--before completion of his tenure, it said.

Madhya Pradesh cadre IPS officer Sudhir K Saxena will be new Joint Secretary in Home Ministry. R K Mitra, a Central Secretariat Service officer, will continue to work as Joint Secretary in Home Ministry for a period upto the date of his retirement on March 31, 2018, the order said.

IAS officer Rajesh Aggarwal has been shifted from Department of Financial Services (DFS) and appointed as Joint Secretary in Ministry of Tribal Affairs.
Anna Roy, an officer of Indian Economic Service, has also been moved out of the post of JS in the DFS and appointed as Adviser, Knowledge and Innovation Hub in Niti Aayog, it said.
IRS officer Madnesh Kumar Mishra will be new Joint Secretary in place of Roy.
Anju Nigam, an officer of Indian Postal Service, will be Joint Secretary in Ministry of Information & Broadcasting. Jayant Sinha, an officer of Indian Audit & Account Service, has been appointed as JS in Defence Ministry. Her colleague from the same service, Meenakshi Sharma, will be Additional Director General, Ministry of Tourism, the order said.

IPS officer Sanjeeb Kumar Patjoshi has been appointed as Joint Secretary in Ministry of Panchayati Raj. IAS officer Kalpana Awasthi will be Director General, National Productivity Council under the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion. She was working as JS in the department.
Arun Baroka has been named as new Joint Secretary in Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation. Forest service officer Ashok will be new Joint Secretary in National Commission for Scheduled Tribes. He is JS in Tribal Affairs Ministry.
IRS officer Sanjay Awasthi has been appointed as Member Secretary, National Council for Teacher Education under the Department of School Education and Literacy.