Bureaucratic rejig at Centre: T V Somanathan appointed Expenditure Secy

Senior IAS officer T V Somanathan was on Friday appointed Expenditure Secretary, the post lying vacant since October, as part of a top-level bureaucratic reshuffle effected by the Centre.

Somanathan, a 1987-batch IAS officer, is at present serving in his cadre state Tamil Nadu. He has been appointed as the Expenditure Secretary, a Personnel Ministry order said.

Former Expenditure Secretary Girish Chandra Murmu was named as the Lieutenant Governor of Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir on October 25.

Ravi Mittal has been named Information and Broadcasting Secretary in place of Amit Khare.

Mittal, a 1986-batch IAS officer of Bihar cadre, is at present Special Secretary, the Department of Financial Services.

Khare will now serve as Secretary, the Department of Higher Education, in place of R Subrahmanyam, who has been appointed as Secretary, the Department of Social Justice & Empowerment.

Senior bureaucrat Sushil Kumar will be Secretary Mines. He is Additional Secretary, Department of Agricultural Research and Education, and Secretary, Indian Council of Agricultural Research.

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the rank and pay of Secretary to Sanjay Kumar Mishra, Director, Enforcement Directorate. He is a 1984-batch officer of Indian Revenue Service (Income Tax), the Personnel Ministry said.

Culture Secretary Arun Goel has been transferred and appointed as Secretary, Department of Heavy Industry in place of Asha Ram Sihag, who superannuates on December 31.

Kshatrapati Shivaji, Executive Director, Asian Development Bank is now Secretary, Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances. The officer will also hold additional charge of the post of Secretary, Department of Pensions and Pensioners Welfare.

Shivaji is a 1986-batch IAS officer of Maharashtra cadre.

Rajesh Bhushan, Secretary (Coordination), Cabinet Secretariat, will now be Secretary, Department of Rural Development in place of Amarjeet Sinha, who retires this month-end.

V P Joy, Director General of Hydrocarbons, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has been appointed as Secretary (Coordination), Cabinet Secretariat in place of Bhushan.

Sunil Kumar has been appointed as Secretary, the Ministry of Panchayati Raj. He is Special Secretary, the Department of Commerce.

Barun Mitra will be Officer on Special Duty, the Department of Justice. Mitra, a 1987-batch IAS officer of Manipur cadre, is at present Special Secretary, the Department of Defence Production.

Senior bureaucrat Praveen Kumar has been appointed as Secretary, the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship in place of K P Krishnan, who superannuates on December 31.

Kumar is Special Secretary, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.