Anurag Jain appointed Road Transport Secretary as part of top level rejig

Senior IAS officer Anurag Jain has been appointed as Road, Transport and Highways Secretary as part of a top level bureaucratic reshuffle effected on Thursday by the Centre.

Jain, a 1989-batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of Madhya Pradesh cadre, is currently Secretary, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade.

He succeeds Alka Upadhyaya, who has been appointment Secretary, Department of Animal Husbandry & Dairying, Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying, according to a Personnel Ministry order.

Upadhyaya has been appointed in place of Rajesh Kumar Singh, who is now Secretary, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade in place of Jain.

Saurabh Garg, Chief Executive Officer of Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), will be Secretary, Department of Social Justice & Empowerment.

Garg, a 1991-batch IAS officer of Odisha cadre, has been appointed in place of Anjali Bhawra, who will now serve as Secretary, National Commission for Minorities.

As many as 12 IAS officers have been appointed to different central government departments in Thursday's reshuffle.

Fertilizers Secretary Arun Singhal will be Director General, National Archives of India, the order said.

Minority Affairs Secretary Mukhmeet Singh Bhatia has been appointed the Chairperson of National Authority Chemical Weapons Convention.

V Vidyavathi, who is currently Director General, Archaeological Survey of India, has been named as the Tourism Secretary.

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has appointed her as Officer on Special Duty (OSD) in the Tourism Ministry.

Vidyavathi will take over as Secretary, Ministry of Tourism after superannuation of incumbent Arvind Singh on May 31, the order said.

Abhilaksh Likhi, Additional Secretary in the Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare has been appointed as OSD in the Department of Fisheries.

He will take over as the Secretary of the department after the retirement of Jatindra Nath Swain on June 30.

Rakesh Sarwal, who is at present Managing Director, National Waqf Development Corporation Ltd, has been appointed as Additional Secretary, Inter State Council Secretariat in the Ministry of Home Affairs.

Rakesh Ranjan, Additional Secretary in the Department of Higher Education, has been posted in the Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare in the equivalent post.

Faiz Ahmed Kidwai, a 1996-batch IAS officer presently serving in his cadre state Madhya Pradesh, will be Additional Secretary, Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, the order said.

The ACC has also approved in-situ upgradation of two officers.

Rajinder Kumar Kashyap, a 1989-batch Indian Postal Service officer, will now be Special Secretary, Department of Justice. He is currently Additional Secretary in the same department.

A R Sule, Joint Secretary in the Department of Atomic Energy, will now be Additional Secretary of the same department. Sule is a 1993-batch officer of Indian Defence Accounts Service.