Senior bureaucrat Arvind Shrivastava appointed new Revenue Secretary in top-level bureaucratic reshuffle

Senior IAS officers Arvind Shrivastava and Samir Kumar Sinha have been appointed Revenue and Civil Aviation Secretaries, respectively, as part of a top-level bureaucratic reshuffle the Centre carried out on Friday, April 18.

Shrivastava, a 1994-batch Karnataka cadre Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer, is currently working as an Additional Secretary in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO). A Personnel Ministry order said the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has approved Arvind Shrivastava's appointment as Secretary, Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance.

Top-level Cabinet reshuffle

Sinha, Shrivastava's batchmate from the Assam-Meghalaya cadre, has been appointed as Civil Aviation Secretary instead of Vumlunmang Vualnam. Vualnam will be the secretary of the expenditures department. He succeeds Manoj Govil, who is now Secretary (Coordination) of the Cabinet Secretariat.

Vivek Aggarwal, a senior IAS officer of the Madhya Pradesh cadre from the 1994 batch, has been appointed Secretary of the Ministry of Culture. Aggarwal is currently the Additional Secretary in the Department of Revenue and the director of the Financial Intelligence Unit- India (FIU-IND).

18 IAS officers, including two working in the PMO, have been appointed to different central government departments as part of this secretary-level reshuffle, which comes ahead of Civil Services Day on Monday.

Hari Ranjan Rao, another Madhya Pradesh cadre IAS officer of the 1994 batch, has been named the Sports Secretary. Rao is currently working as the Additional Secretary, PMO. The ACC has approved his appointment as Officer on Special Duty (OSD), Department of Sports, Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports.

"The officer will take over as Secretary, Department of Sports, Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports vice Ms. Sujata Chaturvedi, IAS (BH:89) upon her superannuation on 30.06.2025," the order said. Anuradha Thakur, Additional Secretary in the Corporate Affairs Ministry, is now OSD in the Department of Economic Affairs.

She will take over as Secretary of the Department of Economic Affairs after Ajay Seth's superannuation on June 30. Rajesh Agarwal, currently the Additional Secretary in the Commerce Ministry, has been named Special Secretary.

Agarwal will take over as Secretary of Commerce on September 30 after Sunil Barthwal retires. K Moses Chalai, Secretary, Inter-State Council Secretariat (ISCS) under the Home Ministry, will be Secretary, Department of Public Enterprises.

Govil succeeds Vandana Gurnani, who has been appointed as Secretary of the Ministry of Labour and Employment. Ashish Srivastava, currently the adviser to the Inter-State Council Secretariat, will now be its new secretary.

Youth Affairs Secretary Meeta R Lochan will now be Secretary, National Commission for Backwards Classes, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, in the rank and pay of Secretary to the Government of India. She will succeed A Neeraja, who retires on May 31.

Rajit Punhani, Secretary, Rajya Sabha Secretariat, has been appointed as Secretary, Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship. He will take over the post after incumbent Atul Kumar Tiwari superannuates on June 30.

Nikunja Bihari Dhal, currently working in his cadre state of Odisha, has been appointed as Secretary of the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs. Dhal will take over the new responsibilities after incumbent Umang Narula retires on June 30.

Rakesh Kumar Verma, Additional Secretary in the Department of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, will now be Director General, India International Institute of Democracy and Election Management, in the rank and pay of Secretary to the Government of India.

Santosh Kumar Sarangi, Director General, Directorate General of Foreign Trade, has been appointed Secretary, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy. Pallavi Jain Govil, Director General of Hydrocarbons, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, has been named Secretary, Department of Youth Affairs.

Nidhi Chhibber, Additional Secretary, NITI Aayog, will be OSD in the Ministry of Food Processing Industries. "The officer will take over as Secretary, Ministry of Food Processing Industries, vice Shri Subrata Gupta, IAS (WB:90), upon his superannuation on 31.05.2025," the order said.

Extension of tenure

The ACC has also approved an extension in the tenure of Bharat Lal as Secretary General, National Human Rights Commission, in the rank and pay of Secretary to the Government of India on a contract basis for a period of one year beyond June 30, 2025.

The Centre has also approved the in-situ upgradation of two officers to the level of Special Secretary in the rank and pay of Secretary to the Government of India by temporarily upgrading their posts. Accordingly, Rajesh Kumar Sinha, currently the Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Ports, Shipping, and Waterways, will now work as the Special Secretary at the same place.

Ranjana Chopra, Additional Secretary and Financial Advisor in the Culture Ministry, will now be Special Secretary and Financial Advisor in the same ministry.