Narendra Modi led NDA government at center has made first major appointment two days after swearing in. Government has announced the appointment of new Army chief (COAS). The senior most officer Lt. Gen. Upendera Dwivedi will take over reigns of one of the world's largest Armies on June 30, 2024. With this appointment, the new government is expected to take call on some of the very sensitive and key bureaucratic positions lying vacant or due to vacant this year. The Buckstopper has listed here all such positions that have crucial role in running the government.
Principal Secretary to Prime Minister:
It is widely speculated that P.K. Mishra, current principal secretary to PM Narendra Modi, is unlikely to continue in the third term of this government. Sources suggest that 75-year-old top aide of Modi could be replaced by former cabinet secretary Pradeep Kumar Sinha or the present cabinet secretary Rajiv Gauba. Sinha had been in the PMO as advisor to PM Modi in his first term before he left to USA for personal reasons. Guaba is known to be one of the most trusted bureaucrat in Modi's team. He had been assigned many key and crucial responsibilities including Union Home Secretary and I&B secretary during last ten years.
Mishra, a 1972 Gujarat cadre officer had moved to the PMO as additional principal secretary in 2014 and he was elevated to principal secretary in 2019 following the resignation of the then principal secretary Nripendra Misra.
Cabinet Secretary:
This is top most bureaucratic position is slated to be vacant in this August. The third extension of cabinet secretary Rajiv Gauba is getting over on 30 August. A 1982 batch Jharkhand cadre IAS, Gauba was appointed cabinet secretary in 2019 for a period of two years. He has been given three extensions since then.
Indications are coming from the Government sources that the next cabinet secretary could be picked from the 1987 batch. Several officers from the 1987 batch are currently leading key union ministries including department of economic affairs (DEA) secretary Ajay Seth, finance secretary T.V.S. Somanathan, steel secretary N.N. Sinha and department of drinking water and sanitation secretary Vini Mahajan. Apart of Secretaries at Centre, Gujarat chief secretary Raj Kumar and Jharkhand chief secretary Sukhdeo Singh (both 1987 batch) are also in the race for the top job.
Union Home Secretary
Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla is also serving an extension and due to retire on 22 August. Assam-Meghalaya cadre IAS of 1984 batch, Bhalla is holding Home secretary position since 2019 and he has gotten four extensions so far. He was due to retire in November 2020.
Foreign Secretary
Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra is due to vacate his position October 2024. A 1988 batch IFS officer, Kwatra is also on an extension. He was promoted to lead the External Affairs Ministry in April 2022. His term was first extended till 30 April, 2024, and then further extended till October end.
ED:
The most talked about agency in last ten years, The Enforcement Directorate (ED) could also see a full-time director soon. The ED director post is lying vacant since September 2023 after the retirement of Sanjay Mishra who was amongst the longest serving officers at this crucial position of ED chief. Since then, Rahul Navin, 1993 IRS officer, has been working as an acting director of the agency. Modi government appointed Mishra as ED chief in November 2018 for a period of two years, which was later extended till 2023 and it came to an end after Supreme Court's intervention while deciding a PIL.
Modi's coalition government may not like to keep a sensitive post vacant now given that ED is probing several high-profile money laundering cases, including against top politicians, Industrialists and bureaucrats.
IB Director
Country's premier spy agency, Intelligence Bureau (IB) will also get a new chief under Modi 3.0. The incumbent IB director Tapan Kumar Deka's fixed two-year tern is ending in this month of June 2024. Deka is a 1988 batch IPS officer.
RBI Governor
The second three-year term of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Shaktikanta Das's is due to end in December 2024. Das, a retired IAS officer was the face of Demonetization as the than union Secretary (DEA) in 2016. He was first appointed RBI governor in 2018 for a three-year term. He was given an extension with full three-year term which in 2021. The present finance secretary T.V.S. Somanathan is being tipped to be Das' successor in RBI. Somanathan is also in the race of becoming cabinet secretary.
Others:
Ministry of statistics is working without full-time Secretary; Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) chairman Nitin Gupta is on extension. Full time arrangements for these key positions should be on Government's priority agenda given the union budget due to be presented in just over a month.
State Bank of India (SBI) chairman Dinesh Khara's 10-month extension is due to end in August 2024. Lif India Insurance (LIC) Chairman's term is also ending in this August. Last selection board meeting for SBI and LIC chief selection was cancelled at the last moment, raising speculation that the retirement age for SBI and LIC chairmen may be raised to 65 years.
Ram Kumar Kaushik is a seasoned journalist with over 25 years of experience across mediums. The architect of this news website, he is also a consultant with several media groups. He was formerly the group managing editor of ITV Network (NewsX, India News and The Sunday Guardian) and its digital products.
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