In a minor reshuffle in the top bureaucracy in the central administration, the Modi government on Thursday appointed senior bureaucrats Renuka Kumar and Sanjay Kumar Singh as Secretaries for Minority Affairs and Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances respectively.
Mr. Singh, a 1987 batch IAS officer of Madhya Pradesh cadre, succeeds Indevar Pandey, who has been appointed as Women and Child Development Secretary. Mr Pandey, a 1988 batch IAS officer of West Bengal cadre, has been appointed as Secretary, Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG) in April.
Mr. Singh, now Special Secretary, Department of Agricultural Research & Education & Secretary, Indian Council of Agricultural Research, will also be the Secretary, Department of Pensions & Pensioners Welfare in the Ministry of Personnel.
Ms. Renuka Kumar is a 1987 batch IAS officer serving in her cadre state Uttar Pradesh. She has been appointed as the Minority Affairs Secretary in place of Pramod Kumar Das, who retires on June 30.
The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has also approved the appointment of Manoj Kumar Parida as Chairman, National Authority Chemical Weapons Convention, in the rank and pay of Secretary to the government of India. Mr. Parida is a 1986 batch IAS officer of Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Mizoram and Union Territory (AGMUT) cadre.
B. Anand, Secretary, National Commission for Minorities, will be Secretary, Department of Ex-Servicemen Welfare in the Ministry of Defence. He will succeed Ravi Kant, who retires this month end.
Another senior IAS officer S K Dev Verman, Special Secretary, Ministry of Minority Affairs, has been appointed as Secretary, National Commission for Minorities.
The orders were issued by the personnel department after the approval from the top appointing authority — the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet — headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
