Karan Avtar Singh appointed new Chief Secretary of Punjab

In a major reshuffle, the Punjab government today appointed senior IAS officer Karan Avtar Singh as the state's new Chief Secretary hours after Amarinder Singh and his cabinet took oath.
Apart from Karan Avtar, 11 other senior IAS officers of the state were also reshuffled given the new posting.
Karan Avtar replaced Sarvesh Kaushal who was posted as Special Chief Secretary-cum-Director General Mahatma Gandhi State Institute of Public Administration.
He was also given the charge of the Principal Secretary of Department of Personnel, General Administration and Vigilance, and Investment Promotion, an official spokesperson said here.
Senior IAS officer, Himmat Singh, who is considered close to Amarinder, was appointed as the Special Chief Secretary, Horticulture and in addition was given the charge of Special Principal Secretary, Forests and Wild life.

Karanbir Singh Sidhu was posted as Special Chief Secretary, Revenue and Rehabilitation and in addition Special Chief Secretary, Irrigation, the spokesperson said.

Nirmaljeet Singh Kalsi was posted as Additional Chief Secretary, Home Affairs and Justice and in addition Additional Chief Secretary, Agriculture, Additional Chief Secretary, Removal of Grievances, Principal Resident Commissioner (Investment Promotion and Industrial Liaison) Punjab Bhawan New Delhi and Additional Chief Secretary Governance Reforms.
IAS officer Satish Chandra was posted as Additional Chief Secretary Finance and in addition Additional Chief Secretary Pensions and Welfare of Pensioners wing, Principal Resident Commissioner, Punjab Bhawan, New Delhi and Additional Chief Secretary Co-operation, the spokesperson said.

S K Sandhu, who was the Principal Secretary to former chief minister Parkash Singh Badal, was posted as the Additional Chief Secretary, Social Security and Development of Women and Children while Anurag Agarwal was posted as Financial Commissioner, Taxation.
Raji P Shrivastava was posted as Director, Mahatma Gandhi State Institute of Public Administration, while Tejveer Singh as Special Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister and in addition Secretary, Information and Public Relations and Secretary, Civil Aviation, the spokesperson said.
Similarly, Vivek Pratap Singh was posted as Excise and Taxation Commissioner while Krishan Kumar as Secretary, Expenditure (Department of Finance) and in addition Secretary, Personnel, he said.