ACC clears 35 Joint Secretary-level appointments across ministries

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) on Wednesday (December 31, 2025) approved the appointment of 35 senior officers at the level of Joint Secretary and equivalent posts across key ministries and departments of the Government of India. The appointments include officers from the IAS, IPS, IFoS and various Group ‘A’ central services.

The names of the officers and their postings are as follows;

1. Chinmay Pundlikrao Gotmare (IAS:2009:AM) has been appointed as Joint Secretary, Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, for a combined tenure of seven years up to April 12, 2028, or until further orders, whichever is earlier. He replaces Purna Chandra Kishan (IAS:2005:RJ).
2. Neha Verma (IFoS:2005:UD) has been appointed as Joint Secretary, Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, for an overall tenure of five years up to January 19, 2027, or until further orders. She replaces Shubha Thakur (CSS).
3. Manoj Kumar Gangeya (IRTS:2000) has been appointed as Joint Secretary, Ministry of Coal, for a tenure of five years, or until further orders. He replaces Bhabani Prasad Pati (IFoS:1994:GJ).
4. Amit Verma (IFoS:2005:UD) has been appointed as Joint Secretary, Department of Commerce, for an overall tenure of five years up to March 7, 2027, or until further orders. He replaces Aishvarya Singh (IAS:2008:SK).
5. Ujjwal Kumar Ghosh (IAS:2008:KN) has been appointed as Joint Secretary, Department of Commerce, for a tenure of five years, or until further orders. He replaces Siddharth Mahajan (IAS:2003:RJ).
6. Kapil Chaudhary (IRS C&IT:2001) has been appointed as Joint Secretary, Department of Commerce, for a tenure of five years, or until further orders. She replaces Kesang Yangzom (IRS IT:1995).
7. Rahul Jain (IAS:2005:MP) has been appointed as Joint Secretary, Ministry of Corporate Affairs, for a combined tenure of seven years up to November 3, 2026, or until further orders. He replaces Inder Deep Singh Dhariwal (IA&AS:1992).
8. Kamlesh Kumar Mishra (IRTS:2003) has been appointed as Joint Secretary, Ministry of Culture, for an overall tenure of five years up to June 13, 2029, or until further orders. He replaces Kaul Sanjay Moolchand (IAS:2001:KL).
9. Shajan George P Verghese (CSS) has been appointed as Joint Secretary, Department of Defence, for a tenure of five years, or until further orders. He replaces Ajay Kumar (IAS:2006:GJ).
10. Tanvi Garg (IAS:2009:UT) has been appointed as Joint Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change, for an overall tenure of five years up to January 1, 2028, or until further orders. She replaces Tarun Kumar Pithode (IAS:2009:MP).
11. Hanish Chhabra (IAS:2006:TN) has been appointed as Joint Secretary, Department of Food & Public Distribution, for a tenure of five years, on completion of cooling-off period (January 23, 2026), or until further orders. He replaces Rajender Kumar (IFoS:1997).
12. Sibin C (IAS:2005:PB) has been appointed as Joint Secretary, Department of Health & Family Welfare, for a tenure of five years, or until further orders. He replaces Roli Singh (IAS:1994:RJ).
13. Arindam Modak (ISS:1998) has been appointed as Secretary (JS level), National Dental Commission, under the Department of Health & Family Welfare, for a tenure of five years, or until further orders.
14. Satyanarain Gupta (ITS:1993) has been appointed as Joint Secretary, National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID) under the Ministry of Home Affairs, for an overall tenure of five years up to December 12, 2028, or until further orders. He replaces Satya S. Lolla (IRS C&CE:1991).
15. Nishtha Tiwari (IRS IT:2005) has been appointed as Joint Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs, for a combined tenure of seven years up to December 9, 2027, or until further orders. She replaces Praveen Vashishta (IPS:1991:BH).
16. Gurjeet Singh Dhillon (IOFS:2002) has been appointed as Joint Secretary, Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs, by temporarily upgrading his post from DS/Director to JS level for an initial period of two years, with tenure up to March 25, 2026.
17. Vinamra Mishra (IRSME:2003) has been appointed as Joint Secretary, Ministry of MSME, by temporarily upgrading the post for an initial period of two years, with combined tenure up to August 12, 2027.
18. Keshvendra Kumar (IAS:2008:KL) has been appointed as Joint Secretary, Ministry of MSME, for a tenure of five years, on completion of cooling-off period (January 27, 2026), or until further orders.
19. Sandeep Vasant Kadam (IAS:2008:HP) has been appointed as Joint Secretary-cum-Mission Head, National Critical Mineral Mission, Ministry of Mines, for a tenure of five years, or until further orders.
20. Shyama Prasad Roy (CSS) has been appointed as Joint Secretary, Ministry of Minority Affairs, for a tenure of five years, or until further orders. He replaces Charanpreet Singh Bakshi (IRS C&IT:1992).
21. Atya Nand (CSS) has been appointed as Joint Secretary, National Commission for Minorities, under the Ministry of Minority Affairs, for a tenure of five years, or until further orders. He replaces D E Richards (CSS).
22. Jagdeep Gupta (IPoS:2004) has been appointed as Joint Secretary, Capacity Building Commission, under the Department of Personnel & Training, for a tenure of five years, or until further orders.
23. Rajiv Kumar (IOFS:2002) has been appointed as Additional Secretary (JS level), UPSC, under DoPT, for an overall tenure of five years up to September 25, 2027, or until further orders. He replaces Jai Prakash Pandey (IRPS:2003).
24. Aadhar Raj (IRTS:2004) has been appointed as Joint Secretary, Ministry of Power, for a tenure of five years, or until further orders. He replaces Baba Daramulla (IRSME:1993).
25. Shailesh Bagauli (IAS:2002:UD) has been appointed as Joint Secretary, Department of Revenue, for a tenure of five years, or until further orders. He replaces Naval Kishore Ram (IAS:2008:MH).
26. Sukhgeet Kaur (IOFS:2000) has been appointed as Member Secretary (JS level), NCTE, under the Department of School Education & Literacy, for an overall tenure of five years, and four years as Member Secretary, or until further orders. She replaces Abhilasha Jha Mishra (IRAS:2000).
27. Asheesh Joshi (IAS:2006:UD) has been appointed as Joint Secretary, Department of School Education & Literacy, for an overall tenure of seven years up to December 1, 2027, or until further orders. He replaces Anandrao Vishnu Patil (IAS:1998:TN).
28. Manasi Sahay Thakur (IAS:2009:HP) has been appointed as Joint Secretary, Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, for an overall tenure of five years up to November 25, 2029, or until further orders.
29. Ashish Kumar Gupta (IOFS:2002) has been appointed as Joint Secretary, Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation, by temporarily upgrading the post for an initial period of two years, with combined tenure up to July 15, 2027.
30. Manisha Chatterjee (IRTS:1999) has been appointed as Joint Secretary, Ministry of Textiles, for a tenure of five years, or until further orders. She replaces Rajeev Saxena (IRSS:1995).
31. Vrunda Manohar Desai (IRS IT:2003) has been appointed as Textile Commissioner, Mumbai, Ministry of Textiles, for an overall tenure of five years up to April 12, 2027, or until further orders. She replaces Roop Rashi (IA&AS:1994).
32. Naval Kishor (IOFS:2003) has been appointed as Joint Secretary, Ministry of Tribal Affairs, for a combined tenure up to October 28, 2026, or until further orders.
33. Bhaskar Choradia (IRAS:2000) has been appointed as Joint Secretary & FA, Ministry of Tribal Affairs, for an overall tenure of five years up to March 31, 2029, or until further orders. He replaces Yatinder Prasad (IA&AS:1993).
34. Zaigham Ali Khan (IRAS:1999) has been appointed as Member (Finance) (JS level), Central Ground Water Board, under the Department of Water Resources, for a tenure of five years, or until further orders.
35. Shiv Ratan (ITS:1996) has been appointed as Joint Secretary, Department of Youth Affairs, for an overall tenure of five years up to December 4, 2027, or until further orders.