NEW DELHI: Senior civil servant Arunish Chawla has been appointed the new revenue secretary on Wednesday. Currently serving as the pharmaceuticals secretary, Chawla, who belongs to the 1992 batch of IAS officers from Bihar cadre, will head the department of revenue in the ministry of finance.
This position was vacant after Sanjay Malhotra‘s appointment as the Reserve Bank of India governor this month.
Additionally, Chawla will retain temporary charge of the ministry of culture secretary position until a permanent appointment is made.
The Unique Identification Authority of India‘s chief executive officer, Amit Agrawal, will succeed Chawla as the pharmaceuticals secretary.
Vineet Joshi, presently serving as Manipur’s chief secretary, has been selected as the higher education secretary. Joshi, also from the 1992 IAS batch, had assumed the role of Manipur chief secretary in May 2023, after serving as additional secretary in the department of higher education.
The department of personnel and training will now be led by Rachna Shah, who currently holds the position of textiles secretary.
Sanjay Sethi, a senior IAS officer currently posted in Maharashtra, will lead the National Commission for Minorities, replacing Neelam Shammi Rao, who will take over as textiles secretary from Shah.
The order also confirms that Neerja Sekhar, currently special secretary in the ministry of information and Broadcasting, will assume the role of director general at the national productivity council under the department for promotion of industry and internal trade.