NEW DELHI: The Centre on Thursday appointed senior IAS officer G K Dwivedi, whose suspension over renewal of license of an NGO run by controversial Salafist preacher Zakir Naik was revoked recently, as Joint Secretary in Department of Land Resources as part of a mid-level reshuffle of the babus effected by the Centre.
Besides Dwiwedi, 17 other officers have been appointed as Joint Secretaries in various Central Government departments.
The Appointments Committee of Cabinet (ACC) has approved Dwivedi’s appointment to the post till September, 2017, when he completes five years of Central deputation period, said the order issued by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT.
Dwivedi is a 1993-batch IAS officer of Andhra Pradesh cadre. He was earlier posted as Joint Secretary in Foreigners Division of the Union Home Ministry and was suspended along with three others on September 1, after it came to light that the licence of Islamic Research Foundation, headed by Naik, had been renewed in August this year.
His suspension was revoked last month by the Centre, following representation from senior IAS officers, and Dwivedi was placed on compulsory wait in the DoPT.
Due diligence was allegedly not carried out before renewing the licence given under Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) to IRF that was under scrutiny for radicalisation and terrorism. The IRF has since been banned.
The ACC approved appointment of six officers from Indian Administrative Service (IAS) and the remaining from other services like Indian Police Service (IPS) and Central Secretariat Service (CSS).
The ACC has approved appointment of four Joint Secretaries in Union Home Ministry including Praveen Kumar Srivastava, C K Khetan, Saheli G Roy and Sanjeev K Jindal.
Indian Forest Service officers Alka Bhargava and Sisir Kumar Ratho have been appointed as Joint Secretaries in Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers' Welfare, and National Commission of Schedule Tribes respectively.
IAS officer Rakesh Kumar Singh will serve as Additional Secretary (JS rank) in Central Information Commission (CIC). Maninder Kaur Dwivedi has been appointed as Advisor in Niti Aayog.
IPS officer Mukesh Jain will be Joint Secretary and Chief Executive Officer, National Trust for Welfare of Persons with Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Mental Retardation and Multiple Disabilities.