Anil Goswami took over as union home secretary from Raj Kumar Singh who retired Sunday, a statement said.
Goswami, a 1978 batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) of the Jammu and Kashmir cadre, will have a tenure of two years.
He joined the home ministry as Officer on Special Duty (OSD) on April 27. Before that, he was secretary in the ministry of social justice and empowerment.
Gosawmi had served as additional secretary in the home ministry earlier.