NEW DELHI: Power Secretary Pradeep Kumar Sinha on Friday was appointed as the next Cabinet Secretary. Sinha, who will succeed Ajit Seth, is a 1977-batch UP cadre IAS officer. He has been asked to take over as Officer on Special Duty (OSD) in Cabinet Secretariat before formally taking over the new charge on June 13.
A PMO release said that the PM has approved Sinha’s appointment as OSD in the Cabinet Secretariat with effect from the date of assumption of charge till June 12, 2015. He has been serving as Union Power Secretary since July 2013.
Express had earlier reported that Sinha and his batch-mate Alok Rawat’s name had been shortlisted by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) for the post of the next Cabinet Secretary. Rawat is currently serving as Secretary, Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances. Both Sinha and Rawat were scheduled to retire in July.
Sinha, an economics graduate and M Phil in Social Sciences, has earlier served as Secretary to Ministry of Shipping and as Special Secretary to Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas. In his parent cadre, Sinha served as Principal Secretary in Irrigation Department.
Hailing from Delhi, Sinha has also served as Collector in Jaunpur, Agra and as Commissioner of Varanasi. He had also served as Director and Joint Secretary, Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports between 1995 and 1999. He was appointed as Cabinet Secretary on June 14, 2011 with a two-year fixed tenure. However, the erstwhile UPA Government had extended his tenure by a year on June 13, 2013.