The two were appointed as officers of special duty in the Prime Minister's Office. (File)

The government has appointed Hiren Joshi and Pratik Doshi as officers of special duty in the Prime Minister's Office in the rank of joint secretary.

The Appointments Committee of Cabinet also ordered the appointment of 1997-batch Indian Foreign Service officer Sanjeev Kumar Singla as private secretary to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

According to an official order, issued by the Department of Personnel and Training, Mr Joshi, who was part of the previous PMO, will continue as OSD (Communication and Information Technology).

Mr Joshi and Mr Doshi have been put in the scale of Joint Secretary with effect from June 14, 2019. Mr Doshi looks after research and strategy in the Prime Minister's Office.

The appointments are on co-terminus basis.

According to the official order, the competent authority has approved Mr Singla's appointment in the rank of joint secretary with effect from June 14, 2019. It was not, however, clear whether he would continue as Private Secretary to the Prime Minister or will take over as India's next Ambassador to Israel, which was issued by the Ministry of External Affairs earlier.

Rajeev Topno, a 1996-batch IAS officer from Gujarat cadre, continues to be the private secretary, but he will now be in the rank of Joint Secretary.