In a major bureaucratic reshuffle, the government has made 17 Secretary-level appointments in key Ministries such as Commerce, Power and Mines, among others.

Rita Teotia, a Gujarat cadre Indian Administrative Service Officer, 1981 batch, will be the new Commerce Secretary, succeeding Rajeev Kher, who is retiring on June 30. Teotia is currently Special Secretary in the Telecom Department. Another Gujarat cadre officer, Pradeep Kumar Pujari, will be the new Power Secretary, replacing Pradeep Kumar Sinha, who has been appointed Cabinet Secretary.

Vice-Chairman of Delhi Development Authority Balvendra Kumar will be the new Mines Secretary. Kumar, an Uttar Pradesh cadre IAS officer of 1981 batch, will replace Anup K Pujari, a 1980 batch officer of Karnataka cadre, who has been shifted as Secretary Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSME), replacing Madhav Lal, who is retiring on June 30. CR Viswanath, 1981 batch IAS officer of the Andhra Pradesh cadre, is the new Secretary in the Consumer Affairs Department. He is currently Chairman & Managing Director of Food Corporation of India, and will replace KN Desiraju, who has retired.

Viswanath’s counterpart in the Food and Public Distribution Department will be Vrinda Sarup, 1981 batch IAS officer of UP cadre, who is currently Secretary in Department School Education and Literacy in Human Resources Development Ministry. Her place will be filled by Subhash C Khutia, currently Special Secretary, Oil Ministry.

Rajiv N Chaubey will be the new Civil Aviation Ministry. He is currently Special Secretary in the Power Ministry and will replace V Somasundaran, who is the new Women & Child Development Secretary. The present Women & Child Development Secretary, Vinay Sheel Oberoi (Assam-Meghalaya cadre), moves to the HRD Ministry’s Department of Higher Education, replacing Satyanarayan Mohanty (Tamil Nadu), who has been appointed Secretary General in National Human Rights Commission.

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