Sanjeev Nandan Sahai new power secy; Pankaj Kumar to be UIDAI chief

Senior IAS officer Sanjeev Nandan Sahai was on Tuesday appointed the new power secretary replacing Subhash Chander Garg, who had sought voluntary retirement after being shunted out from the post of finance secretary soon after the budget was passed by Parliament.

Garg was serving a three-month notice period pending acceptance of his voluntary retirement.

An order issued by the personnel ministry said Sahai, a 1986-batch IAS officer of union territories cadre, will be power secretary in place of Garg who superannuates on October 31.

Sahai is at present special secretary in the ministry.

Garg, who would have retired next year after completing the 60-year age of superannuation, was removed as finance secretary and appointed power secretary in July.

He had sought voluntary retirement from service and it was granted.

In other appointments, Pankaj Kumar, the additional secretary in the ministry of electronics and information technology, will be the CEO of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), which issues Aadhaar.

Braj Raj Sharma has been appointed as the chairman of the Staff Selection Commission (SSC) "by temporarily upgrading the post and keeping the recruitment rules of the post in abeyance", the order said.

He is currently the secretary in the department of border management, ministry of home affairs.

Nagendra Nath Sinha, who was the chairman of the National Highways Authority of India, has been transferred and posted as secretary of the department of border management in place of Sharma.

Senior bureaucrat Sanjeev Gupta will be the secretary of the Inter State Council Secretariat in the ministry of home affairs. He is holding the same position as special secretary.

Minority Affairs Secretary Sailesh has been appointed secretary in the department of public enterprises, the ministry of heavy industries and public enterprises.

Pramod Kumar Das will be the minority affairs secretary in place of Sailesh.

Das is at present the special secretary in the department of expenditure.

Alok Tandon, who at present is in his cadre state Uttar Pradesh, will be secretary in the department of administrative reforms and public grievances.

The officer will hold the additional charge of the post of secretary in the department of pensions and pensioners welfare, the order said.

Anil Kumar Khachi has been removed from the post of secretary, the department of investment and public asset management (DIPAM).

IAS officer Tuhin Kanta Pandey, currently in his cadre state Odisha, has been appointed as the new DIPAM Secretary.

Rajesh Bhushan, the additional secretary in the cabinet secretariat will be secretary (coordination), the cabinet secretariat.

The Centre has also approved in-situ upgrade of the posts of 13 IAS officers of 1987 batch.

Leena Nandan, additional secretary in the ministry of road transport and highways will be special secretary in the same ministry.

Pradip Kumar Tripathi, additional secretary and establishment officer in the department of personnel and training has been appointed as special secretary and establishment officer.