Dipam secretary Atanu Chakraborty will be the new finance secretary

NEW DELHI: In a major bureaucratic reshuffle , the government on Wednesday designated power secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla as the new home secretary , while moving out finance secretary Subhash Chandra Garg to power ministry.

Garg, who was in charge of the department of economic affairs, had been designated as finance secretary by virtue of being the senior-most bureaucrat in the ministry. The Rajasthan-cadre officer has been replaced by Atanu Chakraborty - currently secretary department of investment and public asset management (Dipam).

Chakraborty is expected to address the task of mending fences with various stakeholders, including government departments and regulatory agencies. Garg, who will move to power, is the second finance secretary to be shifted during the last five years and has over a year to go for superannuation.

Garg's surprise transfer came a day after budget-related legislative business was completed and was part of appointment of a dozen secretaries. It included Bhalla's appointment as officer on special duty in the home ministry, a month before home secretary Rajiv Gauba's retirement. Gauba was seen as a frontrunner to replace P K Sinha as cabinet secretary.

Bhalla was handed charge of the crucial power portfolio at a time when the sector was grappling with coal shortages and loan repayment issues.

His long stint in the coal ministry came handy in dealing with the crisis. He is seen as a key member of the government team in the coal auctions after Supreme Court ordered cancellation of coal blocks allotted during the UPA regime. He then moved to the commerce department as the director general of foreign trade.

The government also notified appointment of 1986-batch officer Anshu Prakash as the new telecom secretary and his batch-mate Guruprasad Mohapatra as secretary of the department for promotion of industry and internal trade.

Himachal Pradesh cadre's Anil Kumar Khachi has been designated as the new Dipam secretary and will help oversee the disinvestment of Air India and other loss-making PSUs apart from overseeing the reduction in government equity below 51%.

The government also appointed 1986-batch IAS officer from the Assam-Meghalaya cadre Ravi Capoor as textiles secretary, while Atul Chaturvedi will be the new secretary for animal husbandry and dairying, identified as the government's thrust area.

Gujarat cadre officer P D Vaghela has been appointed as the new pharmaceuticals secretary. In addition, R S Shukla was appointed parliamentary affairs secretary, while Anuradha Mitra will head the department of official languages. Odisha cadre officer G V V Sarma has been appointed as member secretary of the National Disaster Management Authority.

In addition, a dozen additional secretary rank officers of the 1986 batch were promoted to special secretary grade.

