Education Ministry gets new secretary as Centre announces sweeping top-level bureaucratic reshuffle

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) on Thursday approved a major reshuffle of senior bureaucrats, appointing Naresh Pal Gangwar (IAS: RJ:94) as the new Secretary, Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Education.

Gangwar, who is currently serving as Secretary, Department of Animal Husbandry & Dairying, will replace Vineet Joshi (IAS: MN:92), who has been appointed as the new Secretary, Ministry of Panchayati Raj following the superannuation of Vivek Bharadwaj (IAS: WB:90) on July 31.

To fill the vacancy created by Gangwar’s move, the ACC appointed Sushil Kumar Lohani (IAS: OR:96), currently Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Panchayati Raj, as Officer on Special Duty in the Department of Animal Husbandry & Dairying. He will subsequently take over as Secretary of the department.

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Among other key appointments, Katikithala Srinivas (IAS: GJ:89) has been shifted from the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs to become Secretary, Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER).

Piyush Goyal (IAS: NL:94), Secretary, Ministry of Mines, has been appointed Secretary General of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) in the rank and pay of Secretary to the Government of India. He will be succeeded by Keshav Chandra (IAS: AGMUT:96).

The ACC also appointed T.K. Anil Kumar (IAS: KN:95) as Secretary, Department of School Education & Literacy, while D. Thara (IAS: GJ:96) has been elevated as Secretary, Department of Capital Development in the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.

Other significant appointments include:

* Chandra Bhushan Kumar (IAS: AGMUT:95) as Secretary, Ministry of Labour & Employment.

* Satendra Singh (IAS: JH:95) as Secretary, Department of Urban Development, Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs.

* B. Rajender (IAS: BH:96) as Director, Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA) in the rank and pay of Secretary.

* Suchindra Misra (IDAS:92) as Secretary, National Commission for Minorities.

* Archana Varma (IAS: AM:96) has been appointed Mission Director, National Water Mission, in the rank and pay of Secretary to the Government of India through temporary upgradation of the post. She will also take over as Secretary, Department of Official Language in the Ministry of Home Affairs after the retirement of Ansuli Arya on September 30.

Separately, the ACC approved in-situ upgradation of Mritunjay Kumar Narayan (IAS: UP:95), Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India, and Santosh Kumar Yadav (IAS: UP:95), Chairman of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), to the level of Special Secretary in the rank and pay of Secretary to the Government of India.

The government did not provide a reason for the recent reshuffle, which occurred during ongoing protests in New Delhi's Jantar Mantar regarding alleged irregularities in the NEET examination. BJP MP Dr. Nishikant Dubey praised the change, stating that Prime Minister Modi replaced the Education Secretary due to negligence in a paper leak case and promised strict action against those responsible.