New Delhi: In a secretary-level bureaucratic reshuffle, the government has appointed Sunil Barthwal, who is 1989 batch Bihar cadre IAS, as the new secretary of Commerce, while Arun Singhal — a 1987 batch UP cadre IAS — has been tasked to look after the affairs of Chemical and Fertiliser Ministry as its secretary. According to the DoPT order issued on Thursday, the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the appointments of 13 IAS officers as secretaries in different departments of the ministries.
Barthwal, currently secretary of Ministry of Labour & Employment, would take charge of Commerce Secretary on October 1 after the superannuation of BVR Subrahmanyam, who is the incumbent secretary of the department. Subrahmanyam has been appointed as CMD of India Trade Promotion Organization on contract basis for a period of two years upon his superannuation on September 30. Singhal, who is currently CEO of FSSAI, has a vast experience in health sector. While being the Additional Secretary in the Health Ministry, Singhal had taken several key initiatives to bring reforms in health education and make available quality healthcare services to all. Despite resistant from industry, he moved ahead to bring warning lebels on front of the pack.
Arti Ahuja – 1990 batch Odisha cadre lAS, has been appointed as new secretary of Ministry of Labour & Employment, while West Bengal cadre IAS Vivek Bhardwaj has been appointed as Secretary of Ministry of Mines upon the superannuation of Alok Tandon on September 30 and Anjali Bhawra has been appointed secretary, Department of Social Justice & Empowerment.
Rajesh Aggarwal, Maharashtra cadre lAS, has been moved Secretary, Ministry of Skills, to Secretary, Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities. Kerala cadre 1989 batch IAS Rajesh Kumar Singh, who is presently in the cadre, has been appointed as Secretary, Department of Animal Husbandry & Dairying.
Mukhmeet Singh Bhatia, 1990 batch Jharkhand cadre IAS, is new Secretary, Ministry of Minority Affairs. Currently, Bhatia is Director General of ESIC. Vijoy Kumar Singh, 1990 batch Punjab cadre IAS is appointed as Secretary, Department of Ex-Servicemen Welfare, Ministry of Defence. Atul Kumar Tiwari, 1990 batch Karnataka cadre IAS has been appointed as skill development secretary, while his batchmate Arun Baroka is appointed as Secretary, Department of Chemicals and Petro-Chemicals and Gudey Srinivas is new Parliamentary Affairs Secretary.