The administration on Tuesday cleared a significant bureaucratic reshuffle, designating new secretaries across major ministries and departments, including Information & Broadcasting, Tourism, Minority Affairs, and the Development of North Eastern Region. The revisions also impact the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances, the Department of Rural Development, the Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals, and the Department of Land Resources.
Among the appointments, Chanchal Kumar, a 1992 batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of the Bihar cadre, has been appointed the new secretary of the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, replacing Sanjay Jaju, who will now function as secretary of the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region. Bhuvnesh Kumar, presently chief executive officer (CEO) of the Unique Identification Authority of India, assumes charge as secretary of the Ministry of Tourism, while Srivatsa Krishna, the former tourism secretary, shifts to the Ministry of Minority Affairs.
The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet also cleared Vir Vikram Yadav, a 1996 batch IAS officer of the Odisha cadre, as the new Director General of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation. Yadav replaces Faiz Ahmed Kidwai, who has been appointed additional secretary in the Department of Personnel and Training, Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions.
In other developments, Sanjay Lohia, a 1994 batch IAS officer of the Assam and Meghalaya cadre, has been appointed special secretary to the Department of Financial Services, where he is likely to replace M Nagaraju upon retirement. Abhishek Singh, CEO of the India AI Mission, has been appointed director general of the National Testing Agency, in the rank and pay of secretary to the Government of India