In yet another high profile exit from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Private Secretary Rajeev Topno, a 1996 batch IAS from Gujarat cadre, has been appointed as Senior Advisor to the Executive Director of the World Bank in Washington DC.
Mr. Topno has been the Prime Minister’s private secretary since 2014. He was appointed in the PMO in 2009 during the UPA regime.
Another officer who served in the PMO as Joint Secretary, Brajendra Navnit, a 1999 batch Tamil Nadu cadre IAS officer, has been sent to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) as Ambassador and Permanent Representative of India (PRI). He will be based in Geneva, where the WTO is headquartered.
Their appointments is among the string of foreign assignment appointments carried out by the Central administration.
Besides them, another IAS officer of 1993 batch and Assam and Meghalaya cadre, Ravi Kota has been made Minister (Economic) in the Embassy of India in Washington DC.
Ashok Kumar, a 2004 batch IAS, has been made Advisor (Industry and Engineering) in the Embassy of India in Brussels.
Earlier, A.K. Sharma and Tarun Bajaj were moved out from the PMO to important positions as Secretary, MSME, and Secretary, Economic Affairs, respectively. Both have been made full-fledged Secretaries in highly important positions in the last administration reshuffle carried out by the Prime Minister.
Inductions in PMO
After the exit of Mr. Sharma and Mr. Bajaj, three officers were inducted in the PMO at the Additional Secretary, Joint Secretary and Director level on May 29.
Tamil Nadu cadre IAS officer of 1991 batch S. Gopalakrishnan has been appointed as Additional Secretary in the PMO. He has been moved from the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, where he was serving as Additional Secretary.
C. Sridhar, a 2001 batch IAS of Bihar cadre and currently serving in Central deputation as Deputy Director in the IAS training academy in Mussoorie, has been appointed as Joint Secretary in the PMO.
Ms. Meera Mohanty, a 2005 batch IAS of Himachal Pradesh cadre, has been inducted into the PMO as Director. She has been moved from the Cabinet Secretariat.
