Days after being named Higher Education Secretary, Naresh Pal Gangwar replaced

It was on July 23 that the government appointed Gangwar as the new Higher Education Secretary following Joshi’s transfer. The move came in view of the students’ protests in Jantar Mantar over the NEET paper leaks.

However, Joshi continued to hold the office until date, leaving Gangwar unable to take up his new assignment. The former was supposed to take over as the new Panchayati Raj Secretary after the incumbent Vivek Bharadwaj superannuated on July 31. But he did not. As Joshi remained in his role as Higher Education Secretary, Gangwar continued in his, as the Secretary of the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying.

Gangwar is a 1994-batch AIS officer from the Rajasthan cadre. His family earlier received Rs 1.16 crore subsidy for their cucumber farm under a Central scheme.

In another batch of transfers, the ACC appointed V K Kantha Rao, a 1992-batch IAS officer from the Madhya Pradesh cadre, as OSD, Department of Official Language, MHA, in the rank and pay of Secretary to the Government of India.

He will join his new assignment after Ansuli Arya, who superannates on September 30, 2026. Roa is presently the Secretary of the Department of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, under the Ministry of Jal Shakti.

Archana Varma, a 1995-batch IAS officer from Assam-Meghalaya cadre, who was earlier appointed as the OSD in the Department of Official Language, will now succeed Rao as new Water Resources Secretary.

Meanwhile, Youth Affairs Secretary Pallavi Jain Govil has been appointed as Secretary, Ministry of Corporate Affairs, and Sushil Kumar Lohani, a 1995-batch IAS officer of Odisha cadre, has been appointed as Chairman, Inland Waterways Authority of India.