New Delhi, March 31 (NationPress) On Tuesday, the Central Government revealed a significant overhaul of senior bureaucrats, appointing new Secretaries to lead crucial ministries including the Information & Broadcasting Ministry, the Department of Financial Services, the Ministry of Tourism, and the Department of Chemicals and Petro-Chemicals.

Chanchal Kumar, an IAS officer from Bihar of the 1992 batch, has been appointed as the Secretary of the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, taking over from his batchmate Sanjay Jaju.

Sanjay Lohiya, a 1994 batch IAS officer who served as Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Mines, has been named Special Secretary of the Department of Financial Services within the Ministry of Finance, temporarily upgrading a vacant Joint Secretary position. He will succeed Nagaraju Maddirala, a 1993 batch IAS officer, who is set to retire on May 31, 2026.

Bhuvnesh Kumar, a UP cadre IAS officer from the 1995 batch and currently the Chief Executive Officer of the Unique Identification Authority of India, has been designated as Secretary of the Ministry of Tourism, replacing Srivatsa Krishna, a Kerala cadre IAS officer of the 1994 batch. Krishna will now serve as Secretary of the Ministry of Minority Affairs, succeeding Chandra Sekhar Kumar, who has been appointed Chief Executive Officer of the National Rainfed Area Authority in the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare at Secretary level.

Nivedita Shukla Verma, the current Secretary of the Department of Chemicals and Petro-Chemicals, a UP cadre IAS officer from the 1991 batch, is being replaced by Tejveer Singh, a Punjab cadre IAS officer of the 1994 batch. Verma will take on the role of Secretary in the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances, with additional responsibilities as Secretary of the Department of Pensions and Pensioners Welfare within the Ministry of Personnel.

Narendra Bhooshan, another UP cadre IAS officer from the 1992 batch, has been appointed Secretary of the Department of Land Resources in the Ministry of Rural Development.

Rohit Kansal, a 1995 batch IAS officer from the AGMUT cadre and currently serving as Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Textiles, has been appointed Secretary of the Department of Rural Development, replacing Shailesh Kumar Singh, who will retire today.

Bharat Harbanslal Khera, a 1996 batch IAS officer from Himachal Pradesh and presently Additional Secretary in the Department of Consumer Affairs, has been designated as Officer on Special Duty in the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, at the rank and pay of Secretary. He replaces Subhas Chandra Lal Das, who is set to retire on April 30.

Abhishek Singh, a 1995 batch IAS officer from Nagaland and currently the Director General of the National Informatics Centre in the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology, has been appointed as Director General of the National Testing Agency in the Ministry of Education, also at the rank and pay of Secretary through a temporary upgrade.

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has also endorsed the in-situ elevation of the following officers to the role of Special Secretary at the Secretary level by temporarily upgrading their current positions:

These include Sanjay Rastogi, a 1991 batch IAS officer from Odisha and currently the Director General of the National Archives of India in the Ministry of Culture, along with Sajjan Singh Yadav, a 1996 batch AGMUT IAS officer serving as Additional Secretary in the Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance, who will be elevated to Special Secretary in his current role.