News18
Current Finance Secretary TV Somanathan will become the Cabinet Secretary next month.
After the appointment of a new Cabinet Secretary, the post of Finance Secretary will become vacant and will require a new officer to oversee the Finance Ministry.
The Narendra Modi-led government is witnessing major reshuffle at the top levels of secretaries and Directors General, resulting in a completely refreshed bureaucracy. Starting next month, the new officers will take up top posts, acting as the brain of the government. But for that, the government will have to fill various posts of Secretaries and DGs.
After the appointment of a new Cabinet Secretary, the post of Finance Secretary will become vacant and will require a new officer to oversee the Finance Ministry. Current Finance Secretary TV Somanathan will become the Cabinet Secretary next month. The Cabinet Secretary is the senior-most officer of the government and works closely with the Prime Minister.
Similarly, the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), which directly reports to the PMO, has also been operating without a Secretary. The current Union Home Secretary, Ajay Bhalla, holds the additional charge of DoPT.
In addition to these changes, with the appointment of a new Home Secretary, the government will need to appoint a new Culture Secretary, as Govind Mohan, the current Culture Secretary, will be moving to the position of Home Secretary. Additionally, Health Secretary Apurva Chandra will retire next month, necessitating the appointment of a replacement.
Besides these three Secretary-level transfers, the government will have to appoint various Directors General of the forces. Currently, forces like CISF and BSF are operating without permanent DGs, with the additional charge held by DG CRPF Anish Dayal of CISF and DG SSB Daljit Chowdhary of BSF.
Following the recent order curtailing DG NSG Nalin Prabhat’s tenure and shifting him to the AGMUT cadre, the government will need to find a new DG for NSG too. The order released on Wednesday stated: “Curtailment of tenure of Nalin Prabhat, IPS (AP:92) as Director General, National Security Guard (NSG). Inter-cadre deputation of Nalin Prabhat, IPS (AP:92) from Andhra Pradesh to AGMUT Cadre, initially for a period of three years from the date of joining the AGMUT cadre or until further orders, whichever is earlier, in relaxation of inter-cadre deputation guidelines.”
Prabhat is expected to become the new DGP of J&K, as the current DGP J&K is retiring next month.
Interestingly, Director IB Tapan Deka (1988) is from a senior batch compared to the incoming Home Secretary Govind Mohan (1989).
