NEW DELHI: The Centre on Monday announced a top-level bureaucratic reshuffle, naming senior IAS officer Deepti Gaur Mukerjee as the new Higher Education Secretary. She succeeds Vineet Joshi, who was appointed last month as the Secretary, Ministry of Panchayati Raj.
Naresh Pal Gangwar, Secretary, Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying, was also named as the Higher Education Secretary, in place of Joshi.
In a partial modification of its July 23 order, the Personnel Ministry announced late on Monday night that the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved Mukerjee’s appointment as the new Higher Education Secretary.
Mukerjee’s appointment comes in the wake of the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) paper leak controversy.
Mukerjee, a 1993 batch IAS officer of MP cadre, is currently serving as the Corporate Affairs Secretary. According to the order, Youth Affairs Secretary Pallavi Jain Govil will now be the Corporate Affairs Secretary in place of Mukerjee.
Sunil Paliwal, Chairman of the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI), has been named the new Youth Affairs Secretary in place of Govil. Sushil Kumar Lohani, OSD, Cabinet Secretariat, will succeed Paliwal as the new Chairman, IWAI.
V L Kantha Rao, Secretary, Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, has been appointed as the Officer on Special Duty (OSD), Department of Official Language in the Ministry of Home Affairs. The officer will take over as Secretary, Department of Official Language after the superannuation of incumbent Ansuli Arya at the end of next month.
