In a major bureaucratic reshuffle ahead of the New year, Pankaj Jain has been appointed as the Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas. Jain — a 1990 batch IAS officer of Assam cadre — is currently Additional Secretary, Department of Financial Services, Finance Ministry.

Sanjay Kumar Singh, Secretary, will be taking over the charge of Steel Secretary. The 1987-batch bureaucrat from Madhya Pradesh cadre is currently Secretary, Department of Administrative Reforms & Public Grievances and Department of Pensions & Pensioners Welfare.

Meanwhile, Leena Nandan, Secretary, Department of Consumer Affairs, has been named Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forests & Climate Change. She will succeed Rameshwar Prasad Gupta upon his superannuation on December 31.

At the same time, Rohit Kumar Singh, Special Secretary, Ministry of Culture, will be Secretary, Department of Consumer Affairs, succeeding Nandan.

Manoj Joshi, currently Special Secretary, Ministry of Food Processing Industries, has been appointed as Officer on Special Duty, Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs. He will take over as the Secretary, Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs upon superannuation of Durga Shankar Mishra on December 31, the official statement added.

Rajeev Ranjan, currently Special Secretary, Department of Expenditure, has been appointed as Secretary, National Commission for Backward Classes. Vini Mahajan, working in her cadre State Punjab, has been appointed Secretary, Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation, Ministry of Jal Shakti.

V Srinivas, will take over as Secretary, Department of Administrative Reforms & Public Grievances, and Department of Pensions & Pensioners Welfare.

Special Secretary

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet also elevated eight bureaucrats who are currently serving as Additional Secretary to the level of Special Secretary in the rank and pay of Secretary.