NEW DELHI: In a surprise move ahead of the Union Budget, the government has shifted recently-appointed revenue secretary Arunish Chawla to the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM), and has appointed the DIPAM Secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey as the revenue secretary.
Tuhin Kanta Panday is also designated as the finance secretary, him being the senior most bureaucrat in the finance ministry. Chawla will also hold the additional charge of secretary, department of public enterprises. Arunish Chawla was appointed as revenue secretary by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet on December 25.
Before being appointed as revenue secretary, Chawla, a 1992-batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of the Bihar cadre, served as the Secretary in the Department of Pharmaceuticals in the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers from 1 November 2023.
Pandey, a 1987 batch Orissa cadre IAS officer, has been the longest serving secretary at DIPAM, the department that looks into disinvestment of public sector enterprises. He oversaw the sale of Air India and Neelanchal Ispat Nigam Ltd to Tata Group.
The reshuffle of bureaucrats in the finance ministry ahead of budget assumes significance amid growing dissatisfaction in the country with the government’s tax policies. It is being speculated that the budget may announce big bang tax reforms to make the middle class happy.