Within nearly three months of his appointment as Secretary of Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM), Anil Kumar Khachi has been replaced with Tuhin Kanta Pandey and that too with immediate effect.
Bureaucratic reshuffle
This is part of significant bureaucratic reshuffle took place on Tuesday when the Appointment Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) under the Chairmanship of the Prime Minister Narnedra Modi approved changes at Secretary levels in ten Ministries/Departments. It also decided to upgrade thirteen Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers of 1987 batch to the level of Special Secretary in the rank and pay of Secretary.
According to an order issued by Department of Personal and Training (DoPT), 1986 batch IAS officer of Himachal Pradesh cadre, Khachi has been repatriated to his parent cadre ‘on personal grounds with immediate effect.’ In July, Khachi was given charge of DIPAM. His exit from the department, responsible for disinvestment in Central Public Sector Undertakings (CPSUs) has come at a time when, the Government has set an ambitious target of ₹1.05 lakh crore to be realised through stake and asset sale.
Sanjeev Nandan Sahai, new Power Secretary
Another key appointment is Sanjeev Nandan Sahai as Secretary in the Power Ministry as the present incumbent Subhash Chandra Garg is retiring on the October 31. In fact, Garg applied for voluntary retirement after he was removed from the Finance Ministry and appointed in the Power Ministry this July. His application was accepted and as rule prescribes, his three month period will come to end on October 31, 2019, a year before his superannuation in the normal course.
Considering the burden on Revenue Secretary Ajay B Pandey, ACC approved appointment of Pankaj Kumar as CEO of Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), the agency responsible for issuance of Aadhaar. Pandey was holding additional charge of UIDAI even after appointment as Revenue Secretary. Pandey is also the Chairman of GSTN.
Alok Tandon has been appointed as Secretary in the Department of Administrative Reforms & Public Grievances besides additional charge of Department of Pensions and Pensioners Welfare. Sailesh, who is currently Minority Affairs Secretary, will move to Department of Public Enterprises while NHAI Chairman Nagendra Nath Sinha will be new Secretary of Department of Border Management.
List of thirteen IAS officers of 1987, who have been upgraded to Special Secretary, includes Arun Singhal (Health and Family Welfare), V P Jou (DG, Hydrocarbons), Rajiv Ranjan Mishra (Jal Shakti), Sunil Kumar (Commerce), Talleen Kumar (Commerce & Industry), Vasudha Mishra (Agriculture and Farmer’s Welfare), Leena Nandan (Road Transport and Highways), beside others.