IAS officers Rajeev Singh Thakur, Shantanu appointed joint secretaries in military affairs dept

Senior bureaucrats Rajeev Singh Thakur and Shantanu have been appointed as joint secretaries in the newly-created department of military affairs, as part of major bureaucratic reshuffle effected on Monday by the central government. Thakur, a 1995 batch IAS officer of Rajasthan cadre, will have a tenure till December 3, 2022. Shantanu, a 1997 batch Tripura cadre IAS officer, has been appointed to the post till March 27, 2024, an order issued by the personnel ministry said.

The government had last month created the department of military affairs, which is headed by Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) Gen Bipin Rawat. A total of 31 IAS officers have been appointed as joint secretaries in central government departments. Odisha cadre IAS officer Vishal Gagan will be joint secretary, department of defence for a tenure of five years, it said.

Ashutosh Agnihotri has been appointed joint secretary in home ministry. Jammu and Kashmir cadre IAS officer Ashok Kumar Parmar will be advisor, inter-state council secretariat under the home ministry. Bharat H Khera has been appointed joint secretary in Cabinet Secretariat. Vimalendra Anand Patwardhan, an officer of Indian Audit and Accounts Service,has been named as joint secretary and financial adviser in ministry of civil aviation, and IAS officer Nagaraju Maddirala will be joint secretary in the coal ministry.

S Suresh Kumar and Puneet Agarwal have been appointed as joint secretaries in department of commerce and department of defence production respectively. Vineet Mathur, a 1994 batch officer of Indian Postal Service, will be JS, department of consumer affairs and Indian Forest Service (IFoS) officer Sanjukta Mudgal has been appointed as joint secretary in culture ministry.

IAS officer Tanmay Kumar has been appointed joint secretary in the power ministry. Madhya Pradesh cadre IAS officer Hari Ranjan Rao will be joint secretary, department of telecommunications for five years. Other officers have been appointed in different central government departments, the order said.