ACC clears 48 Joint Secretary-level appointments across Ministries

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) on Monday (April 13, 2026) approved a major round of 48 appointments at the Joint Secretary and equivalent level across various ministries and departments. The appointments have been made at Level 14 of the Pay Matrix under the central staffing scheme.

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

1. Kapil Meena (IAS:2010:SK), has been appointed as Managing Director (MD), National Horticulture Board (NHB), Department of Agriculture & FW, for a combined tenure of five years up to January 17, 2027, or until further orders, whichever is earlier. He will replace B Srinivas (IAS:1991:KL).
2. G Venkatesh (ICoAS:1997), has been appointed as Joint Secretary, Department of Chemicals & Petrochemicals for a tenure of five years, or until further orders, whichever is earlier. He will replace Deepak Mishra (IFoS:1996:KL).
3. Priyanka Das (IAS:2009:MP), has been appointed as Joint Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation, for a combined tenure of five years up to March 5, 2030, or until further orders, whichever is earlier. She will replace Shobhit Gupta (IRSEE:2000).
4. Jawahar Packirisamy (IAS:2007:AGMUT), has been appointed as Chairman (JS level), Marine Products Exports Development Authority (MPEDA), Department of Commerce, for a tenure of five years, or until further orders, whichever is earlier. He will replace Doda Venkata Swamy (IAS:2001:OD).
5. Preeti Meena (IAS:2010:TG), has been appointed as Joint Secretary, Department of Defence, for a combined tenure of five years up to February 15, 2028, or until further orders, whichever is earlier. She will replace Mayank Tewari (IRSME:1993).
6. Shailesh Kumar Chourasia (IAS:2007:MN), has been appointed as Joint Secretary, Department of Defence, for a tenure of five years, or until further orders, whichever is earlier. He will replace Rakesh Mittal (IDES:1995).
7. Vinod Kumar (IRSME:1998), has been appointed as Joint Secretary, Department of Defence, for a tenure of five years, or until further orders, whichever is earlier. He will replace Dharmendra Kumar Singh (IA&AS:2000).
8. Ajeet Kumar Srivastava (IRAS:1999), has been appointed as Additional FA & Joint Secretary, Department of Defence, for a combined tenure of five years up to April 4, 2029, or until further orders, whichever is earlier. He will replace Vivek Arya (IDAS:1997).
9. Vipul Aggarwal (IPS:2001:GJ), has been appointed as Joint Secretary, Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region, for an overall tenure of seven years up to March 15, 2027, or until further orders, whichever is earlier. He will replace Shantanu (IAS:1997:TR).
10. Sakshi Mittal (IAS:2010:AGMUT), has been appointed as Joint Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, for a combined tenure of five years up to May 19, 2029, or until further orders, whichever is earlier. She will replace Rajeev Saksena.
11. Laya Madhu (IAS:2010:AM), has been appointed as Joint Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, for a combined tenure of five years up to April 3, 2030, or until further orders, whichever is earlier.
12. Vikas Singh (IAS:2010:TR), has been appointed as Joint Secretary, Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities, for a combined tenure up to April 27, 2026, or until further orders, whichever is earlier.
13. Girish Chandrashekhar Hosur (IFoS:1996:HP), has been appointed as Joint Secretary, Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities, for a tenure up to October 31, 2027, or until further orders, whichever is earlier.
14. Chaudhari Uday Gaurishankar (IAS:2010:MH), has been appointed as Joint Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change, for a combined tenure up to June 23, 2026, or until further orders, whichever is earlier.
15. Bandana Preyashi (IAS:2003:BH), has been appointed as Joint Secretary, Department of Fertilizers, for a tenure of five years, or until further orders, whichever is earlier. She will replace Aneeta C Meshram (IAS:1996:UP).
16. Venkata Nagi Reddy Kovvuri (IDES:1998), has been appointed as Executive Director (General), Food Corporation of India (FCI), for a tenure up to the date of superannuation on September 30, 2029, or until further orders, whichever is earlier. He will replace Sachindra Kumar Patnaik (IRSS:1997).
17. Muthukumar Alagumuthu (IAS:2009:JH), has been appointed as Joint Secretary, Department of Health & Family Welfare, for a combined tenure up to December 4, 2027, or until further orders, whichever is earlier. He will replace Ankita Mishra Bundela (IAS:2001:AGMUT).
18. Prabhakar Jha (IAS:2007:SK), has been appointed as Joint Secretary, Department of Health & Family Welfare, for a tenure of five years, or until further orders, whichever is earlier. He will replace Vijay Nehra (IAS:2001:GJ).
19. Mahatme Sandeep Namdeo (IAS:2010:TR), has been appointed as Joint Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs, for a combined tenure up to May 9, 2026, or until further orders, whichever is earlier. He will replace Prashant Sitaram Lokhande (IAS:2001:AGMUT).
20. Rakesh Rathi (IPS:2002:BH), has been appointed as Joint Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs, for a tenure of five years, or until further orders, whichever is earlier. He will replace Anant Kishore Saran (CSS).
21. Karma R Bonpo (IAS:2010:SK), has been appointed as Director of Census Operations (DCO)/Director of Citizen Registration (DCR), Sikkim, for a combined tenure up to November 25, 2027, or until further orders, whichever is earlier.
22. S Tejaswi Naik (IAS:2009:MP), has been appointed as Joint Secretary, Ministry of Labour & Employment, for a combined tenure up to December 14, 2027, or until further orders, whichever is earlier.
23. Shakil Alam (IES:2001), has been appointed as Additional CPFC (HQ), EPFO, Ministry of Labour & Employment, for a tenure of five years, or until further orders, whichever is earlier. He will replace Bhaskar Choradia (IRAS:2000).
24. Parikipandla Narahari (IAS:2001:MP), has been appointed as Joint Secretary, Department of Land Resources, for a tenure of five years, or until further orders, whichever is earlier. He will replace Kunal Satyarthi (IFoS:1997:HP).
25. Ramesha G (IRS-IT:2005), has been appointed as Incharge (JS level), Central Agency Section, Department of Legal Affairs, for a combined tenure up to May 29, 2027, or until further orders, whichever is earlier. He will replace Meeta Vasistha (ILS).
26. Kulveer Singh Yadav (IOFS:2002), has been appointed as Joint Secretary, Ministry of Mines, for a tenure of five years, or until further orders, whichever is earlier. He will replace Dinesh Mahur (ITS:1992).
27. Mohammad Afzal (CPES:1995), has been appointed as Joint Secretary, Ministry of Minority Affairs, for an overall tenure of five years up to October 3, 2027, or until further orders, whichever is earlier. He will replace Shersha (CSS).
28. Anupam Kumar (IAS:2003:BH), has been appointed as Joint Secretary, Ministry of New & Renewable Energy, for a tenure of five years, or until further orders, whichever is earlier. He will replace Sanjay Chilwarwar (IRSSE:1997).
29. Pradeep Singh (IFoS:2005:GJ), has been appointed as Adviser (JS level), NITI Aayog, for a combined tenure of seven years up to February 9, 2027, or until further orders, whichever is earlier. He will replace Jayant Singh (IRTS:1993).
30. Shanmuga Priya Mishra (IAS:2010:MP), has been appointed as Joint Director (JS level), LBSNAA, for a combined tenure up to February 26, 2029, or until further orders, whichever is earlier.
31. Ganesh Shankar Mishra (IAS:2010:MP), has been appointed as Joint Director (JS level), LBSNAA, for a combined tenure up to February 26, 2029, or until further orders, whichever is earlier. He will replace Udit Agrawal (IAS:2008:GJ).
32. Harmit Singh Pahuja (IAS:2010:MN), has been appointed as Joint Secretary, Department of Personnel & Training, for a combined tenure up to November 17, 2026, or until further orders, whichever is earlier.
33. Venkatesapathy S (IAS:2009:KL), has been appointed as Joint Secretary, Ministry of Ports, Shipping & Waterways, for an overall tenure of five years up to May 1, 2028, or until further orders, whichever is earlier.
34. Praveen P Nair (IAS:2010:TN), has been appointed as Joint Secretary, Ministry of Ports, Shipping & Waterways, for a combined tenure up to July 10, 2029, or until further orders, whichever is earlier. He will replace R Lakshmanan (IAS:2004:BH).
35. Pankaj Kumar (IAS:2002:UP), has been appointed as Joint Secretary, Ministry of Power, for a tenure of five years, or until further orders, whichever is earlier. He will replace Mohammad Afzal (CPES:1995).
36. Hardik Satishchandra Shah (IAS:2010:GJ), has been appointed as Private Secretary to the Prime Minister (JS level), Prime Minister’s Office, on co-terminus basis, or until further orders, whichever is earlier.
37. Kajal (IAS:2008:UP), has been appointed as Joint Secretary, Department for Promotion of Industry & Internal Trade, for a combined tenure up to April 12, 2028, or until further orders, whichever is earlier. She will replace Sandhya Bhullar (IAS:2003:GJ).
38. Sumeet Kumar Jarania (IAS:2009:PB), has been appointed as Joint Secretary, Department for Promotion of Industry & Internal Trade, for a combined tenure up to April 2, 2028, or until further orders, whichever is earlier. He will replace Sanjiv (IRS:1993).
39. Rohan Chand Thakur (IAS:2009:HP), has been appointed as CEO (JS level), National Land Monetization Corporation (NLMC), for a combined tenure up to February 27, 2030, or until further orders, whichever is earlier. He will replace Vikas Anand (IAS:2002:UT).
40. Shankar Lal Kumawat (IAS:2010:TN), has been appointed as Joint Secretary, Department of Revenue, for a combined tenure up to March 2, 2030, or until further orders, whichever is earlier.
41. Udit Agrawal (IAS:2008:GJ), has been appointed as Joint Secretary, Ministry of Road Transport & Highways, for a combined tenure up to January 31, 2030, or until further orders, whichever is earlier. He will replace Vinay Kumar (IAS:1999:BH).
42. Sanjay Chilwarwar (IRSSE:1997), has been appointed as Joint Secretary, Department of Social Justice & Empowerment, for an overall tenure up to August 31, 2029, or until further orders, whichever is earlier. He will replace Ms Dana Ganapathy (IAS:2007:TN).
43. Saravanan M (IAS:2002:BH), has been appointed as Joint Secretary, Department of Space, for a tenure of five years, or until further orders, whichever is earlier.
44. K Balaji (IAS:2010:UP), has been appointed as Joint Secretary, Department of Telecommunications, for a combined tenure up to April 27, 2027, or until further orders, whichever is earlier. He will replace Sunil Kumar Verma (IRSSE:1995).
45. Alaknanda Dayal (IAS:2000:PB), has been appointed as Joint Secretary, Ministry of Textiles, for a tenure of five years, or until further orders, whichever is earlier. She will replace Ajay Gupta (IRSS:1993).
46. Suvasish Das (IFoS:2005:AM), has been appointed as Joint Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, for a combined tenure up to June 6, 2026, or until further orders, whichever is earlier. He will replace Mebanshailang R Synrem (IAS:2002:AM).
47. Pratima Satish Kumar Verma (IAS:2002:BH), has been appointed as Commissioner (JS level), National Education Society for Tribal Affairs (NESTS), for a tenure of five years, or until further orders, whichever is earlier.
48. Rashi Sharma (IPoS:2003), has been appointed as Executive Director (Admin) (JS level), National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG), for a tenure of five years, or until further orders, whichever is earlier.