Pillai rested,MHA names spokesman

Amid speculation that Union Home Secretary Gopal K Pillai was planning to curtail his interaction with the media,the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) today decided to appoint an Additional Secretary as its official spokesperson.

Dileep Raj S Chaudhary,Additional Secretary (Naxal Management) in the MHA,will be the official Ministry spokesperson. An order to this effect was issued today by the Ministry. Incidentally,the MHA already has Press Information Bureau (PIB) official Onkar Kedia as a spokesperson.

Sources said that under the new arrangement,Chaudhary has been tasked with handling media queries on day-to-day basis while Pillai will seek to minimise his interaction with the media. The Home Secretary,it is said,will not be available to the media on as regular a basis as he had been so far. Pillai,however,will be available in times of need,sources said.