Centre Appoints Seven New Secretary-Rank Officers

The Central Government has appointed 7 new secretary-rank officers.

The appointments were made by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC).

Ministry-wise Key Appointments

1. Neeraj Mittal – New Petroleum Secretary(He has replaced Pankaj Jain, who has now been appointed as Member Secretary of the 8th Pay Commission.)
2. Amit Agrawal – New Telecom Secretary
   (He previously served as the Pharmaceuticals Secretary.)
3. Manoj Joshi – New Pharmaceuticals Secretary
   (He was earlier serving in the Department of Land Resources.)
4. Srivatsa Krishna – New Tourism Secretary
5. V Vidyarthi – Assigned to the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities
6. Atish Chandra – Agriculture & Farmers Welfare
   (He was previously in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO). He has been appointed as Officer on Special Duty (OSD).
   He will assume the charge of Secretary in February 2026, after the retirement of Devesh Chaturvedi.)
7. Sunil Paliwal – New Chairman, Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI)
   (He earlier served as the Chairman of Chennai Port Trust.)