Who Is Amit Khare? IAS Officer Behind NEP 2020 Appointed As PM Modi's Advisor

Former Secretary of the Human Resource Department and Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry Amit Khare has been appointed as the advisor to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the rank and scale of Secretary, Government of India. 

The 1985 batch IAS officer from Bihar-Jharkhand cadre, has been known as the man behind shaping the National Education Policy 2020 under the direction of PM Modi. He also played a significant role in bringing key changes in the I&K ministry concerning digital media regulations. The Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 were issued under Khare.

The 60-year-old is now joining the Prime Minister’s Office after ex-cabinet secretary PK Sinha and ex-secretary Amarjeet Sinha left the PMO as advisors. 

Who is Amit Khare?

Khare, who holds an MBA from IIM Ahmedabad, took charge as the Higher Education Secretary in December 2019. Earlier he served as Information and Broadcasting Ministry secretary between May 2018 and December 2019. Khare also has been instrumental in progressing key social initiatives and has also contributed to Ujjwala Yojna - a scheme for providing LPG connections to women from Below Poverty Line (BPL) households. 

As deputy commissioner of West Singhbhum (Chaibasa) between 1995-1997, Khare played a key role in unearthing the Bihar fodder scam, in which Rs. 940 crores were embezzled over many years, and successive chief ministers Jagannath Mishra and Lalu Yadav were imprisoned.

A BSc (Physics) graduate from St Stephens College, Khare also served as the vice-chancellor of Ranchi University and the development commissioner of Jharkhand in the past.

Amit Khare named new Advisor to PM Modi

Amit Khare superannuated from his post of Secretary just last month, and in his speech on the facilitation event arranged by All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), asserted that he was not retiring but superannuating, and would 'continue to work for the betterment of the nation'. 

A release by the Secretariat of the Appointment Committee of the Cabinet read, "Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the appointment of Amit Khare as Advisor to the Prime Minister, Prime Minister's Office, in the rank and scale of Secretary to Govt of India, on contract basis, initially for two years or until further orders, whichever is earlier."