Govt initiates major secretary-level bureaucratic reshuffle

Among those transferred was Niten Chandra, an Odisha cadre IAS officer of the 1990 batch who was, Secretary, Department of Legal Affairs under the Ministry of Law & Justice, will now be Secretary, Department of Ex-Servicemen Welfare under the Ministry of Defence.

Chandra, in his capacity as Legal Affairs Secretary, has also been the Secretary of the high-level committee on One Nation, One Election since its inception on September 2, 2023.

According to sources, over the past few weeks, Chandra had been the only one to accompany committee chairman, former President Ram Nath Kovind, as he met former Chief Justices, Chief Election Commissioners, politicians, and other stakeholders as a part of the consultative process related to One Nation, One Election.

Another significant appointment approved by the ACC was that of Reeta Vasishta, in-charge, Central Agency Section, Ministry of Law & Justice as Member Secretary, 22nd Law Commission of India.

Telangana cadre IAS officer Sanjay Jaju has replaced Apurva Chandra as I&B Secretary. Chandra retains the post of Secretary, Department of Health and Family Welfare, whose additional charge he got in December 2023 when Sudhansh Pant was transferred to Rajasthan as the state Chief Secretary.

Other notable appointments include those of 1991-batch Haryana cadre officer Anil Malik, who was serving as Officer on Special Duty, Ministry of Women and Child Development as Secretary to the ministry after the superannuation of the incumbent Indevar Pandey.

Pandey, a 1988-batch West Bengal cadre officer who retires later this month, was appointed a Technical Member in National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) on January 30.

Sumita Dawra, a 1991-batch IAS officer of the Andhra Pradesh cadre will take over as Secretary from OSD in the Ministry of Labour and Employment after incumbent 1990-batch Odisha cadre IAS officer Arti Ahuja will superannuate on February 29.

Ashish Kumar Bhutani, an Assam cadre IAS officer of the 1992-batch has been posted as Secretary, Ministry of Cooperation; the ACC also approved the in-situ temporary upgrade of the posts of four IAS officers to the level of Special Secretary. (With ENS Inputs)