PremiumNEW DELHI : In a major reshuffle at the bureaucratic level ahead of the budget of the National Democratic Alliance government, the appointments committee of cabinet appointed on Wednesday named Financial Services Secretary Sanjay Malhotra as Revenue Secretary.
Sanjay Malhotra will take charge as the revenue secretary after Bajaj retires on November 30.
The reshuffle holds importance as it comes less than four months before the Union budget and is related to departments where budget allocations tend to be high.
Sanjay Malhotra is a 1990 batch IAS officer from the Rajasthan cadre. He was earlier posted as secretary in the Department of Financial Services after his appointment came in February 2022. He also worked in the union power ministry as an additional secretary. REC and state run Power Finance Corp. are the nodal agencies for implementing the marquee ₹3.03 trillion power discom reform scheme.
Malhotra has an exhaustive power sector experience. The reforms-based result-linked power distribution sector scheme to be applicable till 2025-26 aims to reduce India’s AT&C loss to 12-15% and gradually narrow the deficit between the cost of electricity and the price at which it is supplied to ‘zero’ by 2024-25.
Meanwhile, Registrar General of India and Census Commissioner, Ministry of Home Affairs, Vivek Joshi, will be the new secretary, Department of Financial Services, in place of Malhotra, the govt statement said.
In other top-level changes in the bureaucracy, the government also appointed Aramane Giridhar, currently secretary in Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, as OSD in the Department of Defence.
Giridhar, a 1988-batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of the Andhra Pradesh cadre, has been appointed as Officer on Special Duty in the Department of Defence.
He will take over as secretary of the Department of Defence after the retirement of Ajay Kumar on October 31, a personnel ministry order said.
Meanwhile, National Highways Authority of India chairperson Alka Upadhyaya will be the new road and transport secretary replacing Giridhar.
Nagendra Nath Sinha, currently the rural development secretary, will take charge as the Steel Secretary after the incumbent, Sanjay Kumar Singh, retires on December 31.
Sinha will serve as OSD in the Ministry of Steel starting from December 1. In Sinha’s place, Shailesh Kumar Singh will become the rural development secretary.
In another appointment, Amrit LaI Meena, currently special secretary in the commerce ministry’s Department for Promotion of Industry & Internal Trade, as OSD in coal ministry with the view to take charge as secretary following the retirement of Anil Kumar Jain on October 31.
Also, Bhupinder Singh Bhalla as OSD in Ministry of New and Renewable Energy with the view to take charge as secretary following the retirement of incumbent Indu Shekhar Chaturvedi on October 31.
Sanjeev Chopra as secretary, Department of Food and Public Distribution, following the retirement of Sudhanshu Pandey on October 31
Some other appointment includes, Rachna Shah, currently additional secretary in the Department of Commerce, as OSD in Ministry of Textiles with the view to take charge as secretary following the retirement of Upendra Prasad Singh on October 31 and Manoj Govil as Secretary, Ministry of Corporate Affairs.
In the latest round, over a dozen senior IAS officers were appointed/reshuffled in the Central administration.