Wearing the Home Ministry hat, a dream for any Indian Administrative Service officer, is never easy.
But, in the heat of summer, the growing discontent in the country is only going to add to the palpitation of the new bureaucrat boss in North Block.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh led Appointments Committee on Cabinet has picked up one of the senior most bureaucrats of Jammu & Kashmir cadre, Anil Goswami, to handle the affairs at North Block as country’s new Home Secretary.
Born on January 14, 1955 in Jammu, Anil Goswami is not new to the battleground of the Home Ministry.
He had earlier served in the sensitive ministry as additional secretary from April 2010 to April 2012 and also as special secretary of internal security for 3 months before joining the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment on July 2, 2012. A 1978-batch IAS officer, Goswami has taken over as officer on special duty (OSD) with immediate effect till June 30, when he will take charge from incumbent R K Singh.
Anil Goswami loves history and he has authored a book on the famous pilgrimage Vaishno Devi Shrine drawing experience from his previous stint as the first Chief Executive officer of the shrine board after it was taken over by the government in early 1990s.
A former colleague, on the condition of anonymity, told Express: ‘Goswami likes to get into details of the issues and appreciates formal background notes of the matter put up before him.’
Although he is media shy, his style is in fact quite similar to a journalist. He wants facts before tackling any issue.
Goswami is also popular among politicians from Jammu & Kashmir cutting across the party lines for his unmatched contribution to the state.